*** Official "ICE AGE" Review Thread (1 Viewer)

[Robert Crawford]

This thread is now the Official Review Thread for The "Ice Age". Please post all HTF member reviews in this thread.
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If you need to discuss those type of issues, please post your discussion comments in the Official Discussion Thread.
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Crawdaddy

 

[Guy_K]

Saw this today, what a great film. It certainly is a bit predictable, and remniscent of Monsters, Inc, Dinosaur, and Shrek though, but what kind of way is that to judge a film? It was very funny, the characters were great, the story was touching, and it had a good message. The theater was packed, and the kids in the theater seemed to love it (there was no standing ovation though, like there was for Monsters, Inc).

BTW, I think CGI films are on a roll! It's a shame that this was trashed by some because they felt it was too much like other films though.

 

[Terrell]

My review fits in with Guy's. I thought it was a funny film. Very enjoyable, with a different style of animation that I liked. As Guy said, it was a bit predictable. You could guess what was gonna happen, and end up being pretty accurate. Good stuff! I easily recommend this film. Not up the Pixar's level, but definitely one of Fox's best animated films in a long, long time.
:star: :star: :star: 1/2 out of :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

Ice Age delivers as a warm, funny and wholesome family entertainment film. Ray Romano, John Leguizamo and Denis Leary, who provide the voices for Manny (the mammoth), Sid (sloth) and Diego (tiger), all work well together. Here, the animal characters are the ones that talk and not the humans.
After the initial setup, the film’s storyline does take a familiar turn. However, the jokes are the best part of the film, which left me laughing at the many adventures of the three main creatures as they try and return a baby to his family.
As for the animation, it is not as crisp as the previous animated film offerings from Pixar and DreamWorks, which had more attention to detail.
Ice Age is an entertaining film. Kids will love it and adults should enjoy it too. The best part of it is that there are no annoying sidekicks.
A programming note: While Pixar would have made a five or ten-minute short before its main feature, Fox has carefully and creatively weaved a separate story about a squirrel and his acorn in the main feature that had the audience laughing. It was a nice diversion to the main storyline.
Ice Age rates :star: :star: :star: (out of four).
~Edwin

 

[Alex Spindler]

What a wonderful movie to kick off the spring movie season (for me at least).
After seeing that truly impressive teaser (essentially the first three minutes of the movie), I knew they had potential with this movie. They had a wonderful CGI character, and it was also completely lacking in human voices. I thought this might finally be the first animated movie without that most Disney of traits. Subsequent trailers killed that hope of course, and also painted this as a lightweight entry into the CGI animated movie genre.
Well, I am quite happy to say that this one has exceeded my expectations by a wide margin. Not only did they bring some nicely memorable characters to the table, but they have a nice unique style as well. The slapstick comedy was handled with good comic timing, the jokes aren't so hip as to feel that the movie will feel dated in a year (something that Shrek will not be able to withstand, I'm afraid), and the characters actually had something new to bring to the table. Without spoiling too much, the villians are not only motivated by something other than spite and evil, but one of them has a nice character arc for a children's movie.
The animation is definitely up to par with other recent efforts, which is also very surprising given the low cost of this movie ($50 million by some accounts). You won't find quite as many technical showoff scenes like you did in the recent Monsters Inc, but the movie does have its moments.
The voice casting worked very well in my eyes. Denis Leary was able to carry his character without with some poise and craftiness, which is necessary given the odd "Incredible Journey" lineup that the movie gives us. Ray Romano also does well, and his droll voice doesn't drag the film down a bit. Even Leguizamo doesn't let his dopey character mar the movie, primarily because the writing doesn't get lazy with his dialogue.
In all, I think this is a fine companion to the list of animated childrens movies that adults can enjoy. The jokes work well, the action is swift and paced right, the animation is enjoyable, and the story will keep you from falling asleep. The interjection of the small rodent and his acorn is definitely a wonderful gag that they keep going throughout.
I give it :star: :star: :star: 1/2. It isn't quite the quality of the Toy Storysm but I think it could give Monsters Inc. a bit of fair competition. I liked this much more than Shrek (although to be fair, they really are very different movies).

 

[Paul W]

Some of the CGI was incredible (especially the waterfall). I went into this movie only interested in the saber-toother squirrel and he just managed to save the movie for me. Without the squirrel, this would have been just another gushy cartoon like Shrek. I'm glad he got so much play.