Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006)

Taking this time on a clever TV gag humor and relentlessly hilarious scenes that make children and adults alike burst in laughter almost from start to finish, Ice Age: The Meltdown proves to be better than its prequel.

Set in prehistoric time, the movie follows the adventures and misadventures of Manny, Sid and Diego who along the way meet Ellie who is yet to realize that she herself is a mammoth and the possum brothers Crash and Eddie, as they make their way (along with their prehistoric animal neighbors) towards the "boat" believed to keep them safe from the imminent flood that will soon stream their valley-like neighborhood due to the melting glaciers. Together, they face unprecedented dangers that keep them from reaching their destination safe and on time, and which divide them and eventually unite them to give us a family twice as big whose future adventures we will surely await. Very entertaining being full of off the wall comedy with spoofs of scenes from Saving Private Ryan, Narnia, and Oliver! ("Food, Glorious Food"), the movie is so infectious that unresponsiveness would be a crime.

In a different perspective, taking credit for the big hoots of laughter, the movie trails the much more challenging goings-on of the always-out-of-luck signature character Scrat (a squirrel/rat), deploying all means, as he perseveringly pursues this one nut (always slipping off his hands) which events seem to deprive him of. Animated in such details posing the most comical expressions, easily this character becomes a favorite.

Of all the animated movies wishing to knock off Pixar's groove, this by far to me is the closest. But the mere thought of the faultlessness of Pixar movies like Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles and a host of others pushes down this movie to just being "another cartoon movie." Indeed it makes us laugh our hearts out but it lacks ingredients that make us excited to wait for it to come on DVD. There's no denying that there never is a dull moment here (almost), the thing is it fails to show fresh scenes that are not just replications of what's shown in the initial offering. Partly to be blamed is the script with humor suited for a TV sitcom aimed to simply keep the laughter alive all through missing to give emphasis on a story and telling a story.

With Queen Latifah taking on Ellie, truly the voices behind represented convincingly the characters portrayed. Inserting a bit of Disney-type musical, the movie after all is fun to watch, worth your time and money. The only whining you would have about watching the movie is if you happen to sit beside somebody who thinks aloud, thus talks a lot.

© 2006 Jonathan Susvilla