A fine kids movie

Rating: 4/10 (31 March 2002)

Having been blown away by what animated films are capable of in
the last year (Shrek & Monsters, Inc.) as far as cross-generational
humor, I was sadly disappointed by Ice Age.
All the reviews said, if you like Shrek and Monsters, Inc., you'll love
Ice Age. The trailer made it look interesting, the cast was good,
and this movie had everything going for it. Sadly, it didn't live up to
what it could have been.
The animation was poor by today's standards, with the human
characters looking more like GI Joe's than people. The cave men
had square jaws, rigid lines, and twine hair. Their movement was
jerky and unnatural. It was a big step down from other recent
animated films. The wind blowing through Sullivan's hair on the
ice covered mountainside in Monsters, Inc. comes to mind for
example.
Poor animation could have been overlooked, if it weren't for the
predictable plot and tired jokes. At one point in the movie, an 8
year old boy sitting next to me turned to his friend and said, "Oh my
god, this is so predictable, next he's gonna ".
All I can say is that when an 8 year old finds a movie too
predictable, it's not going to keep me interested for long.
As I mentioned earlier, I've enjoyed several other recent animated
films that offered something to multiple generations. They
contained jokes that were clearly intended for a mature audience.
Ice Age had one or two, an amusing commentary on evolution
comes to mind, but for the most part, the jokes were all kid stuff.
To sum it all up, if you've got kids that want to go see Ice Age, by all
means, take them; I'm sure they'll love it. If on the other hand
you're interested in something you can both enjoy, or maybe you
don't have any kids at all but are a kid at heart, I'm afraid Ice Age
may let you down.