Review: Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Jul 3 2009 by The Journal

DINOSAURS ruled the Earth for more than 100 million years, but the third instalment of the computer-animated Ice Age series will struggle to reign at the UK box office for more than two weeks.

The colourful follow-up to Ice Age 2: The Meltdown plunders from Jules Verne’s A Journey To The Centre Of The Earth as the cuddly critters discover an entire eco-system beneath the ice.

Fearsome predators roam this vast, subterranean kingdom as well as a daredevil weasel, whose gung-ho antics will coax a chuckle from younger viewers.

It’s certainly bright and breezy, but this is the weakest adventure so far, lacking inventive visuals or a clever screenplay to appeal simultaneously to adults and children.

Sid the sloth yearns for a family so he "appropriates" a nest of dinosaur eggs. When they hatch, their mother roars through the camp, carrying off her brood plus Sid to her nest.

The sloth’s friends, Manny the woolly mammoth and Diego the sabre-toothed tiger, embark on a perilous rescue mission, accompanied by the love of Manny’s life, Ellie who is preparing to give birth to their first mini-mammoth.

The film screens in 3D at selected cinemas around the UK, but it doesn’t enhance the viewing experience.

Visuals look flat, apart from the adrenaline-pumping thrill of a couple of first-person-perspective chase sequences.

Audiences will have just as much fun with the traditional 2D version.

Once again, Scrat the sabre-toothed squirrel steals the show. The scene where he inadvertently waxes his furry chest with a tar-covered acorn is hysterical.

Vocal performances are solid and wholesome messages about family are laid on thicker than Manny’s woolly coat.