Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

“Sid, you're gonna have a family too someday. You're gonna meet a nice girl, with... with low standards, no real options, or sense of smell...”

Friday night was date night. Sort of.

Our 11 yr. old son’s favorite movie right now is Ice Age (the original as well as the sequel). He watches one of the two DVDs almost daily. Bean has special needs; he’s completely non-verbal. But, there’s no mistaking his excitement as he signs “elephant” over and over as Manny, the Wooly Mammoth, appears onscreen. We were so excited when the third installment came out a few weeks ago and knew Bean would be, too. We’d planned to take him to see it right away. But, between my husband being out of town for work and both of them being out of town for our 15 yr. old’s National Softball tournament, Friday was the first opportunity we had to go see it. So, our date night for two became a date night for three and off we went.

We are a popcorn and coke kinda family, but because braces are now a part of Bean’s anatomy, popcorn is a no-no for him. We’ve had to substitute a pretzel for his normal theater snack and he is thrilled. He sat quietly, eating his pretzel and drinking his slushie (oops, we forgot his water) while he watched the movie. While he watched the movie, we watched him, waiting for the reaction he’d offer when he saw Manny.

Manny appeared onscreen and Bean….just sat quietly…eating his pretzel, drinking his slushie. What?? Well. Hm. That was a bit anti-climactic.

So, we turned toward the screen, watched the movie and listened to the toddler behind us offer her commentary. Too cute. Wait! Oh, spoke too soon...evidently Bean’s pretzel was priority, but as soon as he finished eating it, he reacted appropriately. Signing “elephant” excitedly over and over. That’s the reaction we were expecting. Worth every penny!

Thanks to the familiar and reliable characters we enjoyed the movie almost as much as Bean. Parenthood was the theme of this one, with Manny and Ellie expecting their first child and Sid finding three lost dinosaur eggs that hatch and claim him as their mother. While the voices of Ray Romano and Queen Latifah were entertaining as the uptight first time father and nurturing first time Wooly Mammoth parents, it was John Leguizamo’s voice as Sid the Sloth and his attempts to be mommy to three active meat eaters that really made us laugh.

Unfortunately for Sid, the eggs he found weren’t abandoned and the real mother Tyrannosaurus Rex comes looking for her babies. She finds them and takes them home with her. Much to his friends’ dismay, she takes Sid, too. So, fearing for his safety, off they go; the Wooly Mammoths, the two opossums, as well as Denis Leary’s Diego…looking for Sid.

They’re taken to a world so large and unfamiliar that the super-sized Wooly Mammoth exclaims, “I feel so puny.” They realize they’re going to need some help if they want to find Sid…and survive.

So, in enters a new Ice Age character. Buck. Short for Buckminster. Long for Buh. Oh, my goodness. Buck gives Sid a run for his money in the entertainment arena. I wish I’d had my character cheat sheet handy. I’m sure I missed some good lines while I was distracted trying to figure out who gave Buck his voice. Although, it wouldn’t have helped. Simon Pegg. Never heard of him. But, he was awesome.

What was not awesome were the darn squirrels. I’ll admit watching the squirrel try to get the elusive acorn was pretty cute in the first installment of Ice Age. Even in the second, it served as a bit of a gimmick. But, this time, it was just way too much squirrel. I wished the squirrel would just let it go, for goodness sake. And, as if one squirrel chasing an acorn wasn’t enough, they decided to add another squirrel to the mix. A female. Now we have two obsessive squirrels chasing after one slippery acorn…and a love connection. Oh, kill me now…I’ve seen too much. I was forced to witness the courtship of two squirrels as well as their foreplay. Fortunately, the movie didn’t go too Discovery Channel on us, but I’m pretty sure the act was alluded to. TMI, Ice Age…way too much information. In the future…less squirrel, more of anything else!

Other than that, the movie was a decent one. The talking characters were wonderful; reminding us that sometimes the friends we choose are as much our family as is our family and we should always follow our hearts.

Bottom Line: A little too squirrely, but otherwise a cute and entertaining movie.