Fun, albeit predictable, family entertainment

Rating: 7/10 (15 March 2002)

"Ice Age" falls into one of those vague areas of film criticism. The animated movie makes you want to like it so much, despite not being perfect. The film pours out creative energy and slapstick high jinks for the entire 90 minutes. This computer animated movie doesn't miss a beat in terms of visual style. A ice sliding sequence is especially impressive. The story, meanwhile, revolves around a sloth (John Leguizamo) named Sid, Manfred the mammoth (Ray Romano) and Diego (Dennis Leary) a tiger. The group of animals are trying to return a baby to its tribe after he ends up away from them following a Sabertooth tiger attack. "Ice Age" reminds one of the classic Warner Brother's Wile E. Coyote cartoons. Scrat, a wide-eyed, prehistoric squirrel provides some truly funny moments in a desperate attempt to open up a nut. Despite, the strengths of some funny slapstick comedy and solid voice characterizations, the film does feel tad too familiar. Computer animation provided cinema with some terrific films the past two to three years including: "Toy Story 2", "Monsters, Inc." and "Shrek". The animation, while still impressive, does have that "been there, done that" touch to it. The film contains moments of obvious sappiness and overall is not quite as original as the wide range of humor displayed in "Shrek". Yet, all that being said, "Ice Age" delivers the goods. It's a solid family film, even if the style and script reek of familiarity. A 7 out of 10.