Movie Review

Ice Age 2: The Meltdown

The "Ice Age" franchise has grown on me. It isn't as inspired as the "Shrek" series and their stories are generic and blah, but that's part of its strength. The filmmakers are given room for zany, suspenseful fun and they do a nice job of balancing that with a lovable cast of characters.

The sequel picks up in the midst of global warming when all of the animals of the Arctic valley are forced to leave before the ice turns into a huge body of water. The trio from the first film, Manny the Mammoth (Romano), Sid the Sloth (Leguizamo), and Diego the Tiger (Leary), are making the trek toward safe ground together; but this time, they also meet up with Ellie (Latifah), a mammoth who was raised by possums and believes she is one. Manny has been told that mammoths are nearing extinction, so he sets to encourage Ellie to "save the species,? but she only wants romance.

There is a real joyous feel to the animation, not just in the colors, but in the quirky off-the-wall antics of these characters, especially with Scrat the scene-stealing-squirrel. Scrat's physical comedy bits of him trying to secure acorns are some of the funniest of any animated film. Leguizamo's slurred and goofy vocal performance for Sid is, like the character, endearing and entertaining. Ellie is another sweet oddity made all the more entertaining by a sassy vocal performance by Latifah. She matches up perfectly with Romano's nerdy Manny. Romano and Leary are professional comedians and could have used better one-liners, but they match up well with their characters and do what they can.

This time the suspense is raised with vultures, killer fish, and treacherous terrain, but there is also a sweet romance and laughs for moviegoers of all ages.

Craig's Grade: B

A	10.9%
B	41.8%
C	31.8%
D	15.3%
F	0.3%