Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs is the latest film in the Ice Age series and has just been released on DVD. Its is the logical continuation of the story that was developed in the first two films. The first one was about finding friends in unlikely places, the second one was about finding love, and the third is about starting a family. The backdrop of this new chapter seems to be a lost underground world in which dinosaurs have been able to survive.

The new film is full of action and adventure interspersed with comic sequences involving the prehistoric squirrel character Scrat. You can tell that a lot of people work very hard to make these movies. The DVD transfer of the film is high quality, save for a couple shots with extremely fast motion that get somewhat pixilated, the film otherwise looks extraordinary. The art is not the only good thing about this film, but it is the best. The first Ice Age movie had a very good story with interesting characters, but the second film was quite disappointing. It didn’t have much of a story and just wasn’t very good. Although it relies heavily on the twist of bringing back the dinosaurs, the story in the new film is actually pretty exciting. The new character, Buck, that’s introduced in this movie is a great addition, voiced perfectly by Simon Pegg. At one point there is a sequence that shows some of this characters back-story and it is one of the best looking, surreal and visually beautiful animated sequences ever, so much so that I have high hopes for what this studio can do if they can escape the Ice Age movies one day.

- Features -

Director commentary is an interesting feature to be incorporated into DVDs, but not every film needs this. There are really only two reasons to do a director commentary, the first being to add an audio track in which the characters are talking about the film like in Spinal Tap, almost adding a second level of entertainment to the movie, or to actually give helpful information as to how the film was made and how certain things were achieved, the best example of which is the film Roger Dodger. This film goes for the second, which is a shame since after all it is a kid’s movie. I think kids would have appreciated hearing the characters they love do some more jokes or reflecting on the experiences in the movie much more; it could have been something fun. Instead you get to hear the makers of the film tell you all about how it was made, which may only be interesting to other people who work on computer animated movies, but for most people it’s boring.

The other special features include what seem like some things they couldn’t fit on the DVDs for the other movies, and some shorts and behind the scenes stuff. The shorts are fun for kids and the behind the scenes stuff is informative. There are also some flash games if you put the disc into a computer that will provide some good fun for kids but that’s about it. Overall the special features have a few extra hours of entertainment; they are an added value but certainly not anything spectacular.

I've never quite understood the success behind 20th Century Fox's animated movie series "Ice Age". While I wasn't intrigued by the first film, at least it didn't put me to sleep. "Ice Age: The Meltdown" on the other hand, was a whole different story. It was filled top to bottom with dry humor [well, it is about a meltdown] and there wasn't much going on with the characters apart from a lot of walking around. Perhaps the endless walking had the characters too exhausted to keep viewers alert. In any case, I wasn't exactly anxious to take time out of my day to see "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs". As it turns out, however, Fox's thurd entry is loads of fun and 'DINO-MITE' I might add.

Driven entirely by the characters, the movie is full of slapstick gags and side-splitting one-liners. The trio consisting of Romano as the Mammoth, Latifah as Ellie and Leary as Diego the saber-tooth tiger are terrific. While the film still lacks in the story-line department, you'll be laughing so often that such a factor will go unnoticed.

The comedy in the movie is enough to hold the interest of parents and the children will be absorbed by the adventure and imaginative characters. While it's one hot summer, "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" is sure to keep things cool. It's a fun-filled feature the whole family will enjoy!