Not overly sentimental but not quite as sharp as I wanted

Rating: Null/10 (1 September 2003)

As the ice age approaches, the majority of animals are heading south to the heat and survival. However sloth Sid gets left behind by his family and immediately gets himself into trouble. When mammoth Manny reluctantly comes to his help he finds Sid sticks with him. When the pair come across a human baby that has just escaped a sabre tooth tiger attack they plan to return him to his village but have to enlist the help of one of the tigers to help track them down. But can they trust Diego?
Someday I'm sure we will tire of CGI animated tales of creatures that all have famous voices and sharp wits, but so far that day has yet to come. Ice Age doesn't totally stand out in the field of really enjoyable films within the genre (I'd say Shrek, Monsters Inc, Toy Story) but it is funny enough to be worth watching.
The plot doesn't matter all that much suffice to say that a quest is undertaken and lessons are learned about friendship  so far nothing new. What it does allow is plenty of comedy set pieces and jokes that, as usual, are aimed at adults as much (if not more so) than the children themselves. Ranging from quick visual gags to longer physical stuff for kids it is all quite enjoyable. The only weakness I felt it had was the lack of a really sharp edge  most of it is quite average rather than being imaginative and hilarious.
The cast do pretty well. As much as I dislike him as an actor (too many bad performances!) Leguizamo does a really good job as Sid and carries a lot of the film. Romano is a solid Manny while Leary never really gets to use his comedy skills as Diego  although thinking of his old acts, maybe that's for the best here!
Overall I didn't feel that Ice Age stood out as one of the better of the recent genre but it is still funny and worth a watch. If I'm honest it did sort of put me in the mood to go and watch one of the better ones in it's class.