Jon Monsarrat review: great, not just for kids

Rating: 8/10 (31 March 2002)

"Ice Age" doesn't have the intricate story arc of "Toy Story". In fact, the big picture story is fairly generic. A short, annoying but lovable pipsqueak who's always in trouble. A big "straight man" who cleans up the mess. Sound familiar, from "Monsters, Inc", "Shrek", going all the way back to Abbott & Costello?
But buried within the generic plotting are tons of hilarious little skits. The film is as funny as "There's Something About Mary", and is the most funny 3D graphics animated film to date. The setting and the variations on the ice age are clever and original.
Being somewhat cartoony, Ice Age does not shoot for the ultimate high-end in realism, but the animation is good (except for the human characters) and the animal fur is a special treat -- one of the hardest things to do well in computer graphics.
Who should see this film:
-- All kids over 6 (the film is PG but it's very mild)
-- Adults who like comedies, won't mind a little bit of
"it's just for kids" in what is basically an accessible film
for adults, and aren't overly arty. This is not high drama.
-- computer graphics fans who like to figure out special effects
I'll give "Ice Age" an 8 out of 10.