80 minutes of pure fun

Rating: Null/10 (28 October 2002)

Having seen "Titan AE" (and been bitterly disappointed), I thought that Pixar would hold the copyright on entertaining animation that appeals both to children and adults (with gems like "Toy Story", "Toy Story 2" and "A Bug's Life"), but then I saw "Monsters, Inc" and it seemed Pixar had fallen flat on its face. As a result, I missed "Ice Age" on its theatrical release, but thankfully I bit the bullet and bought it on DVD and I can now say that Fox have come back with a vengeance: "Ice Age" is a scream!
Where "Monsters, Inc" was uncharacteristically flat and irritating (especially the character 'Mike', voiced by Billy Crystal), "Ice Age" hits you with a knockout opening (featuring a character not unlike Wile E Coyote (Skrat) who never quite manages to bury his acorn) and goes on from there until the closing credits.
The main protagonists of the movie: Manfred the Mammoth (voiced by Ray Romano who sounds not unlike John Ratzenberger, who voiced 'Hamm' from "Toy Story" and 'P T Flea' from "A Bug's Life"); Sid the Sloth (voiced by John Leguizamo, the actor who played 'Clown' in "Spawn") and Diego the Sabre-Toothed Tiger (voiced by Denis Leary who did Francis the Ladybug in "A Bug's Life"), all have amazing characteristics and interact perfectly. The action sequences are spectacular (the opening and the ice slide sequences especially) and the moments of pathos are executed well. Even the cutesy child is not as remotely annoying as the cutesy child in "Monsters, Inc".
On the DVD, you even get Skrat appearing in a four plus minute adventure "Gone Nutty", which is an homage to Tex Avery. Awesome!
10/10!