Uneven, But Still Fun in a Cutesy Way

Rating: 6/10 (4 December 2002)

Millions of years ago (or thousands, depending on your religious beliefs) a squirrel-rat forced an acorn into a crack in the ice, causing an avalanche that kicked off the Ice Age.
At least, that's what this silly diversion of a movie would have you believe.
And the comic relief provided by that squirrel-rat character (known as Scrat) as he repeatedly tries to find a hiding place for that acorn is the highlight of an otherwise uneven but sporadically funny, though at times mean-spirited family movie.
After the Ice Age hits, herds of prehistoric mammals start migrating towards warmer temperatures. A sloth named Sid (voiced by a lisping John Leguizamo) gets left behind by his family (not surprising, considering how annoying this odd-looking little creature is) and takes up with a brooding woolly mammoth named Manfred (Ray Romano).
Meanwhile, a pack of sabre-tooth tigers led by the evil Soto (Goran Visnjic) attacks a tribe of primitive humans. One human mother manages to get away with her baby, but is chased down by Soto's second-in-command Diego (Dennis Leary). Soto commands Diego to bring the baby back at all costs.
And wouldn't you know, the baby is found by Sid and Manfred, who decide to guard him and get him back to his family.
Essentially a road movie without cars, the rest of the plot follows the adventures of Sid, Manfred and Diego in their trek across the tundra played mostly for laughs. Which is why the occasional lapses into dramatic territory (such as the revelation of what happened to Manfred's family, and the rather violent end that comes to one of the villains) seem to come in from another movie altogether.
The animation is good, but noticeably inferior to the similarly plotted MONSTER'S INC; but then I don't think they were going for realism here. All of the characters look like three-dimensional cartoons.
Overall, it's a passable time-killer with a few good laughs, and a storyline that's just predictable enough to keep you comfortable.
Sort of like a comfy old coat that's been worn a few too many times.