|
 Family is where you find it. This touching theme that was explored in both the first and second Ice Age movies is revisited once again in Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. And, like our prehistoric friends, it’s getting a bit old.
In the third installment of the Ice Age franchise, the motley mammalian herd is back and expecting a new addition. The woolly mammoth couple, Manny (Ray Romano) and Ellie (Queen Latifah), is preparing for parenthood and they are joined in their excitement by the lovable sloth Sid (John Leguizamo) and their possum friends Crash (Seann William Scott) and Eddie (Josh Peck). However, Diego, the saber-toothed tiger (Denis Leary), feels that the onset of domesticity threatens his prowess and decides to separate from the herd.
Feeling abandoned by Diego, Sid sets off in search of new friends. In an underground ice cave, he stumbles upon three eggs that appear to be untended, so he adopts them. When they hatch, Sid finds himself the proud parent of three adorable baby dinosaurs. His new charges, however, prove to be more than he can handle when they start eating the neighborhood children. When their birth mother comes looking for them, she abducts the bumbling sloth along with her three lost newborns causing the herd, joined by Diego whose loyalty is renewed by Sid’s unfortunate situation, to follow the terrifying dinosaur into the ice cave to rescue their friend. Because that is what friends do.
Their pathway deep inside the cave leads them to a setting that is dramatically different than their own frozen world; a land that is green and warm and teeming with dinosaurs. It is here in this underground Jurassic Park that they meet Buck (Simon Pegg), a scruffy, swashbuckling Aussie weasel who will fearlessly lead them over the Chasm of Death and through the Plates of Woe to find their friend. He will also lead the charge as they battle the king of the prehistoric jungle, a T-Rex ominously named “Rudy.”
 In the midst of their dangerous adventures, Ellie goes into labor, and audiences are treated to echoes from many a generic husband and wife sitcom, with the overcooked banter between a bumbling, inept but lovable husband and an overly competent, humorless wife. This is followed by a brief digression between Manny and Diego into the dichotomous nature of manhood, which while not especially inappropriate, seems an unlikely and misplaced theme to explore in a movie for kids. However, with the birth of the baby mammoth, viewers transition back into the safe, if painfully familiar, territory of family, friendship and cooperation.
Intermingled with the main storyline, Scrat (Chris Wedge), the acorn-obsessed flying squirrel, finds a formidable adversary/love interest in Scratte (Karen Disher), an eyelash-batting, feminine version of himself. Their screwball comedy antics, reminiscent of classic Warner Brothers cartoons, have them at odds over a single acorn, then falling in love and then at odds again.
Dawn of the Dinosaurs contains numerous well-constructed adventure sequences that keep the action moving, a handful of snappy one-liners, amusing physical comedy sequences and a plethora of snot and butt jokes, which, one assumes, is mandatory for any film aimed at the pre-adolescent. The surroundings and situations in which the characters find themselves are imaginatively drawn and, while the 3-D effects experienced in a theater setting are not quite reproduced in a home viewing of the DVD, the visual effects are still quite spectacular and lifelike.
In an attempt to appeal to adults, however, there are some odd cracks about single motherhood, a “coming out” double entendre and numerous penis references which are both not funny and seem conspicuously out of place in a film primarily targeted at children. Other attempts at humor in the film, while innocuous, either fall flat or are painfully clichéd.
 Unfortunately, the standard DVD (Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, MSRP: $29.98) only includes the film, some trailers for similar family fare and a filmmaker commentary, which most adults won’t sit through let alone kids. If you’re looking for family friendly special features, parents will have to purchase the “Scrat Pack” double DVD pack (MSRP: $34.98), which includes a second DVD loaded with bonus materials. On the second disc are some short films featuring Scrat the Squirrel (“Gone Nutty--Scrat’s Missing Adventure” and “No Time for Nuts”), a featurette detailing the making of the Lost World atmosphere featured in the movie (“Unearthing the Lost World”) and a featurette on the creation of the character Buck (“Buck…Easel to Weasel”). There are also some interactive activities such as Scrat Pinball, Eggshell and Bubble Trouble, as well as a tutorial for drawing the character Scrat (“Scrat: From Head to Toe”), which could be fun for any future animators. Other bonus materials include the “Walk The Dinosaur” music video and various other featurettes focusing on everything from Scratte to making a scene.
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs is also available as a three-disc Blu-ray/DVD combo pack (MSRP: $39.99) which includes such additional bonus features as two unfinished deleted scenes and a digital copy of the film. For those who want to own the entire franchise on Blu-ray, a box set that includes Ice Age and Ice Age: The Meltdown is also available (MSRP: $119.98), though it’s a little overpriced.
In the end, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, while mildly amusing and visually appealing, serves up the same thawed out leftovers viewers have seen in the two previous installments. And, without the benefit of being propped up by the 3-D effects one would experience in the theater, this film in a home theater setting sadly deflates. It might be better to enjoy a second viewing of the original Ice Age than sit through this copy of a copy.
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs is now available on DVD and Blu-ray.
|