It was by far, one of the most captivating, and curiosity inducing trailers, this side of Middle Earth and Tattoine.  The escapades of a squirrel, simply foraging for an acorn, but setting off a near cataclysmic chain of events, generated much interest and hope for Ice Age.  But for all that potential, Fox Studios somehow lost something in the magical spell that animated movies are having on movie audiences presently.  Although, I guess the magic had to run out sometime. It is kind of sad to see that the animated film genre has not learned its lesson from the success of Shrek.  Having seemingly run out of original story ideas Fox is now rehashing previously successful stories, changing the venue and adding in some dazzling visuals to distract us away from the truth.  While Ice Age is very far from a bad movie, thanks again to the visual mastery, it is far from being a great one (ala Shrek).  With ideas stolen from last years Monsters Inc, Ice Age is a safe, harmless movie that doesn’t break any new ground, but still maintains the expected charm.  I know that these movies are made for the young, and young at heart, and from that aspect, this film succeeds in keeping things simple and easy, but Shrek has proved that you can be unique and original, while also being visually stunning. I just wish that the writers could have come up with a more original story, to go along with the appeal and the animation.

We are shown a world where animals outnumbered people, and the weather controlled geography.  Manfred is a paternal wooly mammoth, who is inexplicably heading North, as all others head South to warmer weather.  He saves a slightly dimwitted, but well-meaning sloth, from a pair of rhinos, and thus a bond is born, sort of. Manfred is reluctant to partner with Sid, until they come across a young child who has lost his mother as she fled a pack of tigers.  When one of the tigers, Diego, finds that Manfred and Sid have the baby that the rest of his pack wants, he decides to help them to find its family, or so he says.  His motives are questionable at best, but since he is the best tracker of the 3, the unlikely herd of tiger, mammoth and sloth heads into the eye of the storm, so to speak.  Another recurrent story is that of the omnipresent squirrel, and his antics with an acorn.  These were very entertaining, and in their own right, would have made a nice short.  They offset the monotony and simplicity of the story, always infusing doses of unsolicited laughter (the whole sequence of the cultish Dodo birds was a stroke of genius), in a script that zings a few too many one-liners and sight gags, but does entertain for the most part. The storyline, and some of the antics, mirror Monsters Inc so much that it wouldn’t surprise me if the same scribes had whispered in the ears of Ice Age’s writers.  The creators, directors, writers and animators have taken a safe road, which of course works, and does touch your heart.  It borrows Disney’s concurrent theme regarding the power of love, be it family, spouse or whatever, but adds very little of their own unique touches.  I respect their consistency, considering the target audience, but would have appreciated a modicum of originality, other than the setting.  Toy Story’s 1 and 2 and Shrek showed that there are talented wordsmiths working in the animation industry.  Don’t get me wrong, I criticize, only because I have seen better.  DreamWorks and Disney consistently produce universally appealing faire that touches the hearts of adults, while satiating the gleeful inhibitions of the children.  Ice Age’s story is safe, convenient, appealing, but rehashed.

Vocally, the most memorable performance is that of Leary, who accentuates the lower snarling aspect of his voice to give Diego an ominous, surly, but hesitantly sensitive aspect, which suits the character perfectly.  Leguizamo, who spends the whole movie talking like he’s holding rocks in his cheeks, provides moments of humor and character to Sid, while Romano has such a distinctive voice, that you can almost see his whiny, slouchy demeanor throughout the movie.  The voices are neither distracting, nor attracting, but rather fitting of a movie that is mediocre at best.

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