Hit and miss animation

Rating: 5/10 (28 March 2006)

Back in 2002, animation movies were really becoming hugely popular, so it's no surprise that Fox decided to jump on the bandwagon with their first real effort at a CGI movie. The result, "Ice Age", is watchable but certainly no match for the Pixar and Dreamworks competition.
To start with the good things, all the scenes involving the frantic squirrel/rat ("Skrat") character trying to hide his nuts everywhere are simply great. The same is true for the part involving the hilariously stupid and suicidal dodos.
As for real laughs, that's about it though. There are some occasionally funny bits, but for the most part "Ice Age" is too predictable and repetitive to be really funny. The constant bickering between the main characters gets old really fast, and the Sloth character in particular often crosses the line between funny and just downright annoying.
Don't expect anything from the story or the characterization either. I don't mind that the plot is predictable (let's face it, most animation movies have similar plots) but it's so sickeningly cute and delivered in such a pedestrian, play-it-safe manner that it should really appeal to kids only. The characters also left me completely cold, other than that I felt sorry for Skrat.
As for the animation itself, I have to say in general that it's below par, even by 2002 standards. This might have been intentional and for the most part the overly cartoony style works reasonably well, but don't expect to marvel at the visuals.
In the end, I'd have to say Ice Age is still watchable. I didn't care much for the fairly dull characters and the overly cute and basic plot but there are enough funny bits to mostly make up for that.
**1/2 out of ****