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QUICK PLOT SUMMARY:
Animation - During the Ice Age, a mammoth, sloth, and sabretooth tiger find a human infant and set out to return it to its tribe.
WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG - The MPAA rated this film PG for mild peril.
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Reviewer's Corner
Family fun abounds in charming Ice Age
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Hot on the heels of two very successful and well done films done by computer animation (last year’s Monsters, Inc. and Shrek) comes a little film called Ice Age, directed by Chris Wedge (who won an Academy Award for an animated short a couple of years ago entitled Bunny). Here, Wedge shares direction duties with Carlos Saldanha, and the voice talents of Denis Leary, John Leguizamo, and Ray Romano breathe life into a sabretooth tiger, a sloth, and a wooly mammoth in this story set during the great ice age during the dawn of mankind. What makes this film really good isn’t necessarily the storyline; it’s the chemistry between the characters and the humor that comes as the end result of that. While a bit more rough than something like Monsters, Inc., which had the freedom and depth to completely create a monster world similar to ours and work with the blue collar-type humor from there, Ice Age has more of a two dimensional tableau to work from, as most of it’s backdrops consist of snow and glaciers in a barren wasteland. But what Ice Age lacks in dimension of the world it inhabits, it more than makes up for in the silliness and fun between the characters.
Ray Romano provides the voice of Manfred the Mammoth, who suddenly finds himself unwittingly befriended by Sid the Sloth (John Leguizamo) during a time when he simply wants a little peace and quiet to himself. After all, while everyone else is headed south for warmer climates during the great migration, he’s headed in the opposite direction. Unable to shake Sid from his tail, Manfred and his new companion suddenly find themselves having to care for an orphaned human baby. Determined to get the child back to his appropriate ‘herd’, the two set out to return him, only to be quickly joined by Deigo the Sabretooth Tiger (Denis Leary), the only member of their party who knows how to get them through the pass and to the humans, but who may have dark plans of his own. In the course of their adventures, the group often comes into contact with Scratch, a little squirrelly-looking mammal whose lot in life is to be forever tormented by his struggle to hide away his precious acorn (providing some of the most cleverly articulated and humorous bits in the story). Through a trip across the bleak wasteland of a frozen world, this small, ragtag group of animals soon discover that their differences are quickly outweighed by their similarities and their need for one another, as their friendship grows stronger the longer they transverse the bleak and treacherous landscape.
Chris Wedge does a great job here in creating his first feature length animated film. Knowing he lacks the resources of a Pixar or a PDI behind him, he nevertheless creates a film filled with funny, well thought out sequences and poignant moments. And even though much of the film is aimed at kids with a barrage of exciting and dazzling scenes, it also gives them an introduction to a very interesting time in history and just may give them the incentive to learn a little more about paleontology. A bit edgier without the expectations of a studio like Disney behind it, Wedge’s Ice Age is a welcome relief for the kids at a time where much of the cinematic fare out there is aimed at the adult market. This film will entertain adults and kids alike, and it’s a great change of pace that the entire family can enjoy for a long time to come.
Reviewed by Jon David Loraditch
What do YOU think? -- March 18, 2002
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WHO SHOULD SEE THIS MOVIE:
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- AS A DATE MOVIE
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- Good Bet - Aimed mainly at kids, but this would be a good, harmless choice for a date film.
- CHICK FLICK
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- Good Bet - Plenty here for audiences of both genders to enjoy.
- GUYS MOVIE
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- Good Bet - Some great action sequences here should give guys just as much a sense of excitement as the young kid sitting next to them.
- CHILDREN
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- Great Bet - Filled with enough action, adventure and humor to entertain kids of any age.
- TEENAGERS
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- Good Bet - Some teens may initially dismiss this as 'kids fare', but it has some good comedy and some great action sequences that teens will appreciate.
- GENERATION X
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- Great Bet - Gen X-ers will love much of the humor brought to the story by Ray Romano and Denis Leary.
- BABY BOOMERS
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- Good Bet - Boomers will enjoy this film, either on their own or as a treat to bring kids or grandkids to.
- MATURE AUDIENCES
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- Good Bet - Mature audiences should enjoy this film just as much as any grandchild they'd like to bring along.
- INTELLECTUALS
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- Good Bet - Nothing really intellectually stimulating here, just a darn good kids movie that adults will be entertained by as well.
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WHAT PARENTS SHOULD CONSIDER BEFORE THEIR CHILDREN SEE THIS MOVIE:
MOVIE DETAILS:
- VIOLENT ACTS
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- None -
- SEX/NUDITY
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- None -
- PROFANITY
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- None -
- TENSE SCENES
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- Very Little - Two animals discuss killing another animal; sabretooth tigers attack a human camp; some animals almost fall into a river of lava; a group of sabretooth cats attack a mammoth; a small animal gets stepped on repeatedly by larger animals.
- IMMORAL/ILLEGAL BEHAVIORS
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- None -
- QUESTIONABLE CONTENT / UNHEALTHY BEHAVIORS
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- None -
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- Children's Value Rating
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Great fun for kids of all ages!
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