THREE MAMMALS & A BABY

Rating: Null/10 (19 March 2002)

ICE AGE (2002) ***1/2 (VOICES: Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Goran Visnjic, Jack Black, Tara Strong, Cedric the Entertainer, Stephen Root, Deidrich Bader, Jane Krakowski, Josh Hamilton) Fun and frenetic animated farce set during the prehistoric era with an unlikely trio of mammals on the verge of extinction  a woolly mammoth (dead-panned Romano); a hyperactive yet warm-hearted sloth (goofy Leguizamo); and a snarky underhanded saber tooth tiger (subtly edgy Leary)  who team up to save a human baby in their trek of evolution. Free-wheeling and intriguing color schemes gives the genre a unique look and a dandy screenplay by Michael Berg, Michael J. Wilson and Peter Ackerman with lots of verbal interplay between the trio is a delight while surprisingly touching. Best bit is the scrat (cross between squirrel & rat) as a running gag. (Dir: Chris Wedge)