Cold surroundings, but a warm story at heart

Rating: 8/10 (12 February 2008)

Ice Age marked the debut of Blue Sky Studios, another player in the arena of computer animation. Pixar remain the undisputed kings of the field. Just about every film they turn out is an absolute delight. And even less received films like Cars and Ratatouille have that magic Pixar touch.
I'm not sure if Blue Sky are what you would call a truly great studio. Their films are amiable enough to make them instantly likable, but they somehow lack the shrewd intelligence of a Pixar film. Still, judging from Ice Age, Blue Sky have the potential to go onto a very promising future. If not a great one.
Set 20'000 years ago, animals are on the move to find warmer climates now the Ice Age has set in. Sid the Sloth (voiced by John Leguizamo), ditched by his migrating family, gets on the wrong side of a couple of hot-headed rhinos. But he's saved (reluctantly) by Manfred, the Great Wooly Mammoth (voiced by Ray Romano).
Latching onto Manfred, Sid comes across a baby human. His tribe were attacked by a pack of sabre-toothed tigers, and his mother managed to get him to safety before she died. Sid takes it upon himself to return the little tyke to his people, with Manny's help of course. But they have to contend with Diego the Sabre-Tooth (voiced by Denis Leary), who says he's out to help when really he's leading them into an ambush.
Ice Age, although a reasonable box-office hit, could have brought in more money if it had opened in cinemas before the likes of Monsters Inc and Shrek. Because when you're watching Ice Age, its impossible not to think of those two films. Manny is the sullen giant saddled with Sid's annoying chatterbox...Shrek & Donkey. And the baby often reminds you of Boo, in the care of Sully and Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc.
But to say Ice Age is predictable is to shortchange its virtues. Because although its a rather slim film plotwise, it has surprising depths and unexpected charms.
Manny, Diego and Sid are all quite well written. Granted they tend to seem a little generic. Manny's the loner who gradually thaws. Sid's the annoying sidekick who provides comic relief. And Diego's the unknown variable faced with a moral dilemma. But they're all voiced well by the actors, imbuing each character with a separate identity.
Especially impressive is Denis Leary, who plays it totally straight for once. He never launches into the rapid, manic monologues that he seems to enjoy. He almost makes Diego seem dignified. And its an appealing moral dilemma the writers have laid at his feet.
Half of Diego's pack were wiped out by human hunters. And he's supposed to bring this baby back to the people who slaughtered his own. The rest of Diego's pack are interested in settling the score, by feasting on Junior, so Diego is supposed to deliver him to them. Quite an interesting problem isn't it? And Leary rises to the challenge admirably.
Ray Romano and John Leguizamo are both on good form. But its really Denis Leary who shines. He totally convinces you of Diego's struggle. Whether or not he should give in to his instincts. Or rise above them for the greater good. Its a great piece of characterisation. Madagascar tried the same thing. To much lesser effect.
From the way I've described the film, you'd think it was a dramatic endeavour solely. But there are plenty of laughs to be had. Particularly appealing, and something that was a common staple of the trailers are the sidesplitting adventures of a squirrel trying to bury his beloved acorn. But because the ground is frozen solid, he can't achieve this one simple task.
Everything he does to bury the damned thing sets off avalanches, earthquakes, lightning strikes, you name it. The scenes with Scrat the Squirrel are actually the funniest thing about the film. What I especially liked is they're told in complete silence. Scrat never talks, but he has an endless supply of squeaks, grunts and exasperated facial expressions on his neverending quest to bury that acorn. He arguably goes through more trials and tribulations than our trio.
The filmmakers include obstacles for Manny, Diego and Sid to circumvent. A common theme for this type of film. The trip through the ice tunnels is a hair raiser. As is our heroes encounter with a lava flow. And in between the action, there's a quite poignant scene where through a cave painting, Manny relives the extinction of his herd. Its a scene where the film holds still for a few minutes, and allows you to feel Manny's pain.
One thing I thought was an especially nice touch is the film's depiction of humans. They don't talk. Probably because they haven't mastered the mysteries of the human language yet. And in a neat twist, its perfectly natural to see an animal talk instead of a human. Its nice to see a film finding the time to take something like that into account.
Also, Ice Age is mercifully free of film references and smart-ass hip colloquialisms. Things that have sunk many an animated film. DreamWorks is a particularly guilty offender. Blue Sky have no desire to distract us with adornments like that, because they're clever enough to know the drama is a strong enough hook to bring in the audience. And they're right.
Ice Age is visually appealing, even if it doesn't have the razzle-dazzle of a Pixar film, but the characters dilemmas are really quite enough to draw us in. It may seem like an animated version of Three Men and a Baby, but its much deeper than that (and much better too!). Surprisingly forthright (the death of the baby's mother). Funny at a lot of the right moments. And its charming and heartwarming. Great theme from David Newman too.