Ice Age - PG
Best for: Kids 8 to adults
What it's about: This animated adventure takes place 20,000 years ago, when the creatures were migrating to escape the new Ice Age, which starts accidentally after a scrawny Scrat (a combination of squirrel and rat) buries his acorn in the cracked ice. Sid (voiced by John Leguizamo) is a fast-talking sloth who befriends Manny (Ray Romano), a giant woolly mammoth who reluctantly lets Sid tag along. When the two find an abandoned baby, they decide to return the cute little bundle of joy named Roshan to his human tribe. Along the way, they encounter a sabertooth tiger named Diego (voiced by Denis Leary) who has a plan for the three unsuspecting travelers.
The good: I knew this movie would be funny, but I didn't expect it to be tender and moving as well. Just hearing Romano's voice makes me laugh; his sarcastic delivery makes him perfect for parts like this. Leguizamo is likewise perfectly cast as the annoying sidekick. The two create a sort of "Odd Couple." Throw in Leary's voice and Scrat's perpetual attempt to bury his nut in the snow and you have an unusual story the whole family will laugh at -- one the adults will enjoy as much as the kids. In fact, adults will get jokes that will sail over their kids' heads.
Lots of unique scenes (the trio slide through a glacier, birds protect melons in a weird dance, Sid spots a spaceship trapped in ice, they all go tubing through a mountain) are creatively animated in a style everyone will enjoy.
The not-so-good: A few characters die, but their deaths only are suggested (birds fall in a hole, a mother slips into the water leaving her baby behind, a tiger is killed).
Offensive language: Some crude language.
Sexual situations: None
Violence: A gang of sabers attack Manny and Sid.
Parental advisory: Kids 8 and older will enjoy this story the most because of the humor between the animals and the baby.
Bottom Line: I enjoyed this movie a lot more than I thought I would because of the jokes and hilarious situations. It's a perfect movie to take your kids to, and you'll enjoy sitting through it yourself.
