Ice Age The Meltdown (2006)
Directed by Carlos Saldanha
Written by Jim Hecht
Starring Ray Romano, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo, Josh Peck, Seann William Scott, Queen Latifah
Release Date March 31st 2006,
Published March 30th, 2006
When it comes to computer animation, if it's not Pixar it's not brilliant. The fact is -despite the success of Shrek, Shark Tale or Ice Age - no company creates computer animated films like Pixar. All others are merely pretenders feeding at the trough built by Steve Jobs and his company. Because of the empire Pixar created, movies like 2002's Ice Age were made and met with great success. Such success has bred a sequel to that pleasant if unmemorable prehistoric cartoon about ancient animal species coming together to become lifelong friends and learning to survive.
Ice Age: The Meltdown brings our friends Manny The Mammoth (Ray Romano), Sid the Sloth (John Leguizamo) and Diego the saber tooth tiger (Denis Leary) back together on the eve of the end of the Ice Age. While enjoying what they believe is a delicate spring warm up in their little valley, Manny and company discover the glaciers that surround their idyllic home are melting and soon the whole valley will be underwater.
They must lead their tribe of disparate creatures from their home to a mythical ark somewhere in the woods where they can float to safety on higher ground. Poor Manny is dealing with the sad fact that as far as he knows there are no other mammoths in the world. If he dies, his whole species dies with him. Manny however has a big surprise waiting for him.
As the group begins their trek they come across a couple of wiseacre possums (Sean William Scott and Josh Peck) who, while irritating the heck out of Diego, accidentally lead to the discovery of Ellie (Queen Latifah) a beautiful female mammoth with one unfortunate defect. After years of living with possums she has come to believe she is a possum. Manny must lead this new group to safety and along the way try and convince Ellie that she is actually a mammoth like him. He also must learn to come out of his gloomy shell if ever the effervescent free spirited Ellie is going to help him rebuild the mammoth species.
Ice Age 2 plays like a multi episode arc of a cartoon series including commercial breaks. However, instead of commercials we have Scrat the prehistoric squirrel who's sisyphean quest for the ever elusive acorn is by far the films strongest source of comedy. Scrat steals the entire movie with his little 2 and 3 minute segments during which he gains and loses his precious acorn. Scrat likely would not work in a film of his own but in small doses Scrat is minimalist brilliance. Film scholars and philosophers could muse for hours on Scrat's never ending quest for that acorn and the innumerable ways it eludes him.
The final grail-like quest in which Scrat nearly gains the ultimate acorn is a brilliant device that ties Scrat to the main characters. The rest of Ice Age: The Meltdown is pleasant but not all that memorable. The central story is sweet and good natured. The voice actors all do solid work. There is unfortunately nothing that sets Ice Age apart from any other product aimed at children.
The script by Peter Gaulke and Gerry Swallow is not all that clever or original. The gags with Scrat have their unique genius but only in small doses. The animation of Ice Age: The Meltdown is pretty standard stuff for the genre although I am told that animating as much water as is featured in the film was quite an impressive task in terms of the amount of work it took.
The animation pales in comparison to the elegant artistry of just about every film Pixar has ever produced. Trying to compare Ice Age 2 to anything Pixar is like comparing a velvet Elvis to the Mona Lisa. There is literally that much of a noticeable difference between what Pixar does and what everyone else in the computer animation genre is doing.
The bottom line on Ice Age: The Meltdown is that it is inoffensive and easy to watch. Exactly what parents are looking for on a Saturday afternoon with the kids. You won't find anything controversial or really all that memorable about Ice Age The Meltdown. Which is a good thing if you're looking for an electronic babysitter but not so good if, like me, you're looking to be moved intellectually or emotionally.
I recommend Ice Age: The Meltdown to the undiscerning audience. For those of you looking for true stimulation in kids entertainment go back to your Incredibles DVD or Finding Nemo or Toy Story, or.... well you get the point.
