Heartwarming, comical "Ice" is one for the ages

Rating: 10/10 (2 April 2002)

"Ice Age," which could have been alternatively titled "Three Mammals and a Baby," is the smartest and most entertaining animated movie since 2000's "Chicken Run." It's an intellectual winner that will prove gratifying for both children and adults, and it's the first great film of a year otherwise marred by rubbish like "All About the Benjamins" and "Resident Evil." There's just something about small-studio-produced, anthropomorphized animals that does the trick every time.
Then again, considering my name, I probably would've been hard-pressed to dislike this movie in the first place.
Manfred, a huge, aloof woolly mammoth (voiced by Ray Romano), is clearly uninterested in tagging along with an assembly of prehistoric creatures who are migrating south to escape the oncoming Ice Age. Before he knows it, he is thrust into an unexpected and unwelcome position of playing bodyguard to a good-natured yet incompetent sloth named Sid (John Leguizamo), when the latter angers a pair of rhinos after inadvertently ruining their dinner in a most unpleasant manner. Meanwhile, Diego (Denis Leary), a revenge-minded sabertooth tiger, has the task of kidnapping a human baby from a tribe who have killed and reduced his pack to the brink of extinction, but his plan of attack fails and the baby disappears from the fracas. Later, Manfred and Sid are shocked to see this little pink thing wash up at their feet on a riverbank, still alive. Though distrustful of one another, the threesome reluctantly put their agendas aside and join forces in order to try to return the child to his family. It's a race against time as they try to succeed in their quest before the Ice Age destroys them all.

Considering that this is a computer-generated film, there's no element of surprise in the animation. But "Ice Age," directed by Chris Wedge and Carlos Saldanha, has something that sets it apart from its brethren. It's oddly reminiscent of the immortal Looney Tunes cartoons, due to its old-school slapstick. Throughout the picture, a feisty little critter named Scrat (so called because he's part squirrel and part rat) tries constantly in vain to bury his beloved acorn. His first attempt - pounding it into solid ice - sets off one heck of an avalanche. Scrat's continuous failed attempts to bury that darned acorn resemble Wile E. Coyote's vain pursuits of the Roadrunner. The aforementioned avalanche scene, in which two icy mountain ranges collide with each other and nearly crush our diminutive protagonist, is a blast. The resulting "uh-oh" expression on his little face, upon realizing his grave mistake, is priceless; you almost expect him to whip out that tiny umbrella and cower beneath it. (He also features in a hilarious tag scene at the film's conclusion.) When characters go flying into a snowbank, they leave their silhouette-shaped imprints in their wake. Diego and Manfred continuously knock Sid on the noggin simply for the baby's amusement. "Ice Age" even contains a unique and spectacular take on the chase scene, courtesy of what looks like a frozen waterslide hidden deep in a cave.
As was the case with "Chicken Run," this film's centerpiece is its superb voice acting. With a trio of venerable comedians cast in the leading roles, the chance was there for them to ham it up and try to outdo each other. Instead, their performances are considerably restrained and they mesh together well, resulting in near-impeccable comic timing. Romano brings the right touch of endearing grouchiness as Manfred, but without becoming a completely miserable sourpuss. Leguizamo's high-pitched voice, coupled with a Cindy Brady-type lisp, is perfect for the cowardly and lovable Sid, while Leary, one of the greatest - and most ribald - stand-up comics ever, is all easygoing attitude as shady Diego, who may or may not have something to hide. Their voices fit the characters in the tradition of Mel Blanc as Bugs Bunny or Elmer Fudd; it's hard to imagine anyone else in these roles.
It doesn't hurt that their bestial counterparts are so darn cute and well developed either. Sure, Diego's mission is to abduct the baby and bring him to the leader of his pack (voiced by Goran Visnjic), but viewers will discover that it's near impossible to feel any animosity towards him. His character is hurt slightly by predictability, but that doesn't make him any less enjoyable. Manfred is pretty much a Neanderthal Lou Grant in terms of his take on the familiar surly-on-the-outside and soft-on-the-inside disposition, but he doesn't whine constantly about it. He doesn't expect anyone's sympathy. The oddly proportioned Sid steals the show, from his funny backside-swinging strut to his personality as a timid little sloth with a heart of gold; no one is more dedicated to returning the baby safely back to his home. There is a hysterical scene where poor Sid sits in the pouring rain while trying futilely to build a fire, or when he entertains some girlfriends in a prehistoric Jacuzzi (in this case, a tar pit). But while "Ice Age" succeeds at tickling the funny bone, it's not all mindless fun and games. There is one emotional moment when our three heroes look at a series of cave paintings, including one featuring a mammoth family - mother, father, and child - which transforms into a beautifully animated yet melancholy sequence showing a horrible human slaughter of the family, as seen through Manfred's perspective. He feels a spiritual connection to the baby after the death of his own. Not since Gandalf's demise in "Lord of the Rings" have I teared up during a movie, which, needless to say, is something I don't do very often. It's a rarity when a film causes viewers to believably experience different emotions without feeling forced to do so.
"Ice Age" succeeds in various ways where "Shrek," to which it has drawn many comparisons to, fails. How remarkable is this film? It may mark the first time that the toilet humor contains actual humor. The stiff partnership between Manfred and Sid is parallel to the relationship between Shrek and Donkey, only it's much more amusing. There's no juvenile or crude humor, nor are there any unnecessary potshots aimed at its competition or hypocritical morals preached to the audience, such as the rampant don't-judge-someone-until-you-know-them ethics in "Shrek" that were wedged in between the short jokes. The film's only real weakness is an insignificant sequence involving an army of dodo birds, but it's no more abhorrent than watching frogs and snakes being grossly inflated into balloon animals. And, there are no bloody "Matrix" spoofs to be seen anywhere.
After a string of disappointments like "Anastasia" and "Titan A.E.," Fox's beleaguered animation department has finally broken the jinx with this comic delight, and you can do likewise with "Ice Age" if you've already lost hope for the 2002 movie season. 9/10