"ICE AGE: THE MELTDOWN"
DVD Review
by Kevin Carr
| MOVIE: *** (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: **** (out of 5 stars) STARRING Ray Romano as MANNY John Leguizamo as SID Denis Leary as DIEGO Seann William Scott as CRASH Josh Peck as EDDIE Queen Latifah as ELLIE Rated PG Studio: 20th Century Fox Directed by: Carlos Saldanha Back to DVD Review Home |  |
When “Ice Age: The Meltdown” was released in theaters this past spring, we hadn’t yet grown numb to CGI movies. It was the first major CGI release of the year, so it still was somewhat of a novelty. And being a sequel to the wildly popular “Ice Age,” it seemed blessed.
This new chapter in the “Ice Age” franchise sees Manny the mammoth (Ray Romano), Sid the sloth (John Leguizamo) and Diego the saber-toothed tiger facing the threat of global warming. Ignoring the fact that the real ice ages last decades, these prehistoric protagonists are watching the glaciers around them beginning to melt.
As they try to find their way to safe ground, Manny is starting to face the reality that he might be the last of his kind. Enter Ellie (Queen Latifah), a mammoth who thinks she is a possum. Manny tries to woo her during the trip, but Ellie is playing hard to get. As the gang moves to safe ground, they are being chased by villainous carnivorous beasts that melted out of the ice.
The focus has shifted in this episode of “Ice Age.” In the first film, it was very much Diego’s movie. He was the driving force, trying to dupe his newfound friends into helping him capture the human child. The real turning point in the movie came from Diego choosing his new friends over his own pack.
In this movie, Diego is there, but he takes a back seat. The writers force a subplot with him not being able to swim, but in the general sense, Diego could have been left on the cutting room floor.
And this is the problem inherent in many sequels – you have to use the characters from the original. If it’s a live-action sequel, sometimes you have to deal with an actor not returning, and that can be a struggle to explain on screen. However, with animation, there’s no way to not include a character. Even if the original actor didn’t reprise his or her role (and knowing that Denis Leary understands the need to bring in a paycheck, there was little chance of him not returning to voice Diego), the studio could still get someone to sound like them on screen.
Ultimately, “Ice Age: The Meltdown” is a story about Manny the Mammoth. He’s the one in a quandary about not having any more mammoths around. It is he who has the love interest in the form of Ellie, a mammoth who thinks she’s a possum. He’s the one who has the strongest character development. Even though Sid the Sloth has plenty of scenes, they’re in there more for comic relief than anything else.
But while Ray Romano was able to carry a successful sit com for years, he’s not exactly the guy you want solely headlining your kids movie. After all, who wants to spend 90 minutes with a depressed mammoth?
This lets the film branch out a bit and give something to the other characters. Unfortunately, the characters are stiff and thin. It’s not a great display of writing, but it’s about what you’d expect from an animated sequel.
However, the real judge of these films from a studio perspective is the audience. Did the kids like it? Did it make money. The answer is yes on both accounts. “Ice Age: The Meltdown” led the charge of computer generated films in 2006, a year that saw almost as many CGI movies released as there were already on the DVD shelves.
“Ice Age: The Meltdown” was a significant hit, and while a stuffy critic like myself can harp on the weak story and forced characterization, I realize I’m not the audience the movie was made for. My kids love it, and I suppose that’s all that really matters.
The DVD comes with two separate commentaries, profiles for the different characters, instructions from John Leguizamo on how to dance like Sid, several set-top games, a personality match, a featurette on Sid, storyboard progressions and a new animated short featuring Scrat.
Specifications: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround. Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround. Widescreen (1.85:1) – Enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Spanish and French subtitles. Spanish and French language tracks. English language subtitles for the hearing impaired.
