Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006)

Ice Age: The Big Chill was very good and entertaining. Just seen The Meltdown and was thoroughly entertained. Hollywood finally put something out that didn't have a bunch of sex, blood and gore. Wonderful one liners and originality in this. The QUEEN did an outstanding job, and Ray just made it all the better. This would be one for the DVD Library for sure. Kids AND adults both had a great time. Thank you Hollywood for finally having something that was fun.

We went to see Ice Age 2 the day it came out, which generally guarantees an enthusiastic and rowdy crowd. Everyone there was laughing and clapping throughout.

Manny (Romano), Diego (Leary), and Syd (Leguizomo) are back. They've turned the heavily iced area into a camp for kids complete with ice slides and wading pools. But a vulture called Fast Tony (cameo by Jay Leno) warns everyone that the ice is melting and soon their valley will be flooded. So once again, everyone must migrate, fleeing to safer and higher ground. On the way, they meet 3 new friends: two opposums named Crash and Eddie (Sean Scott Williams and Josh Peck), and their "sister"a mammoth named Ellie (Queen Latifah) who doesn't know she's a mammoth. Collectively, they continue on their migration. Syd and Diego try to convince Manny that Ellie can help him keep mammoths from going extinct, and a possible realtionship begins. But flood waters, horrid water creatures, and Ellie's massive identity crisis stumble them a bit along they way. Syd finds respect and reassurance from a secret tribe of sloth's that revere him as the "Fire God". But it's Scrat, everyone's favorite neurotic squirrel, that's the true star of this movie. My kids, and those all around us, laughed their heads off whenever Scrat's crazy acorn antics were on screen. My old asked me today, "Can we go see Ice Age 2 again?". He didn't even say that after seeing "Curious George"! Fun for the whole family.

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As my 3 year old daughter had worn down the video of the original Ice Age by overuse we decided to try Ice Age: The Meltdown as her introduction to the Movie Theaters.

And were we right. The minute the movie started she stopped fidgeting and kept relatively still. (she did whisper the characters names each time they appeared though).

We were all eager to see this sequel and the rest of the family simply adored it. The only con I might have is 'how can they possibly do a number three now?'

This is certainly on a par with Shrek 2, another sequel which didn't let down it's original.

Family entertainment at its best.

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The first "Ice Age" flick was hilarious and touching at the same time. "The Meltdown" goes for more slapstick and even a little bit of romance to move its story along. All of the major players return for this second chilly outing. Headed up by the voice talents of Ray Romano(Manny), Denis Leary(Diego), and John Leguizamo(Sid), this particular film is more of a stand alone tale than an actual sequel to its predecessor. You need not have seen the original to follow the storyline.

The plot starts at the end of the Ice Age, where Manny, his pals, and a whole herd of other companions, come to the stark realization that their current home is about to be flooded by melting ice. I noticed shades of New Orleans during Katrina as I watched the herd make their trek to higher ground. The funny thing is that a mammoth, a sabretooth, and a sloth handled their evacuation way better than a mayor and a so-called governess.

Manny also realizes that he just might be the last mammoth on the planet. Enter Ellie, voiced by Queen Latifah. She's a mammoth who thinks that she's an opossum. She even has two opossum brothers, Crash and Eddie, who are gamely voiced by Seann William Scott and Josh Peck. Peck is half of the duo that is Nickelodeon's "Drake And Josh." You'll recognize Scott as Bo Duke in the recent "Dukes of Hazzard" flick and as Stifler in the "American Pie" series. Of course, Scrat is along for the ride and still chasing that acorn he so longingly desires. Ellie and Manny eventually spark a few romantic flames, but Crash and Eddie, as well as the reliable Diego and Sid, provide plenty of laughs during the trek.

As the herd moves onward, two deep sea leviathans take up the hunt in hopes to capture any of the stragglers. They eventually play a key role in the movie. That role is set up by the revelations that Diego is afraid of water and Sid just wants some respect.

While Scrat is fun to watch, at one point he begins to suffer from "Stifler-itus." In other words, he becomes somewhat annoying to watch as the flick progresses. This little bit of a problem is forgivable, however, thanks primarily to the well-written script and the solid relationships built between the original three and their new counterparts.

The animation is definitely on a higher plane this time around. The characters are crisper, colors brighter, and the motion of the animals is more believable.

If you enjoyed the original "Ice Age," be ready for more of the same high jinks as presented in the original. I personally enjoyed the first flick more than this one, but it is a worthy second-helping of Manny, Diego, and Sid that I'm sure will be loved by most fans of buddy comedies and slapstick humor.

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This is a darling movie, one that (believe it or not) caught the fancy of my 14-year-old, over the other PG-13 choices at the theater last week. I hadn't seen the first Ice Age. But he did, wanted to see the sequel-and was not disappointed. Then again, neither was I.

This feature-length cartoon offers fine animal characterizations, beginning with Sid the sloth, whose feeble attempts to teach, entertain-and control-the younger animals in his frozen, but fast-melting valley, opens the film.

Then along come a large male woolly mammoth, Manny and his saber-toothed tiger friend Diego, who encourages Manny to pursue the only other woolly mammoth they have seen in a long long while-a delightful female named Ellie (Queen Latifah), who has grown up with possums-thinks she's a possum-and like her "brothers," hangs from a tree limb at night to sleep.

Since the ice cliffs around their valley are melting, threatening them with an impending flood, the animals must journey to the valley's end, where they hope to find solid ground. Along the way, they experience several near-disasters, including a run-in with finned sea monsters snapping enormous, alligator-like mouths. Even I screamed at some of the surprises.

The story also highlights the importance of friendships, and families, no matter how they are formed. A wonderful film, for kids and grown-ups alike.

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