Almost could have gone Direct To Video. Bright moments and lots of dull and bad stretches

Rating: 5/10 (22 March 2002)

"Ice Age" is one of the most mixed and uneven movies I've seen in a long time. Overall it was "OK." There were wonderful aspects-- and some really bad aspects. The mammoth and the sloth, for example, were amazing bits of animation. The water at the end of the movie was also marvelous. Some of the scenes, though, were cheesey rip-offs of way better films. Note the similarity between the mountain cave passages in "Ice Age" and the flying whale scene in Disney's "Fantasia 2000." The flying whales, and the whole trapped under the iceberg thing--- was enchanting, evocative, uplifting, and a masterpiece. The rip-off version in "Ice Age" by contrast seems dim, depressing, and dreary.
Much of "Ice Age" resembled the frenetic and abbreviated desert scenes of the later, crappier, Road Runner cartoons. I saw "Ice Age" in a small town full of ordinary people. The audience at my showing was a mix of small and medium kids and their parents. There were a few moments of "Ooooh!" and a few quiet chuckles. One or two kids guffawed every time an animal stepped on a stick and got hit in the face. Otherwise, the theater was pretty quiet. I think we were all waiting for the cool part to start, when all of a sudden, the movie was over.
Referring again to the moments of goodness-- the tigers looked awful, but Dang! The mammoth and the sloth looked great. Their fur was so well done! But if it weren't for their great looking fur, this movie could probably have gone straight to video.
Take the kids! Take the grandparents. But to keep from boring yourself into a stupor, get drunk first (but don't drink and drive, take a taxi!).