Solid, won't melt your heart

Rating: 7/10 (18 December 2006)

Even before Ice Age grossed a gabillion habillion dollars, it was inevitable that there would be a sequel, because duh, the Ice Age eventually spurned a new age, which I will call the Not Ice Age. Otherwise we'd all be frozen and speaking Inuit. But I digress.
Last time, the sudden appearance of a human infant brought an unlikely crew together: a woolly mammoth, a sabre-toothed tiger, and a sloth. This time, Manny, Diego, and Sid have a new mission - get the holy heck out of the way before the giant ice damn breaks and floods everything and drowns all of those who cannot swim, which would be just about everyone. On top of that, Manny (Ray Romano) is fearful that he's the very last of his kind. And on top of THAT, Diego (Denis Leary) must face his fears. Only everyone knows tigers have no fears, so I'm sure he has nothing to worry about.
At first, the boys are sure that nothing's melting, there's nothing to see here, please move along, and they tell a gathered crowd to ignore the mad ravings of Fast Tony (Jay Leno!), who's full of doom and gloom and anything else that'll make him some money. (Although what use these animals would have for money is not explained.) But then, at the top of the dammed hill thingy, they notice that the water seems a bit higher and the ice seems a bit less... present. Whoops! Guess everything really is melting after all. So they change their minds (and everyone else's) and head AWAY from the impending doom. Where to, you ask? Well, according to the vultures, there's a boat way over yonder, and if everyone can get over there before the damn bursts, then they'll be able to ride the deluge out.
Meanwhile, Manny's his usual morose self. Glum, even. He mopes about, wondering if he truly is the last of his kind when BOOM something lands on him from a tree branch. It's another mammoth! Only she thinks she's am opossum. It's a long story (well, about 80 minutes long), but basically Elly was raised by opossums Crash and Eddie and thinks she's one of them, despite the painfully obvious fact that she's about nine tons larger and can't hide as well. But hey, she's not quibbling.
So here's Manny, the very picture of awkwardness, Mister Insensitivity his own darn self, and he has to convince Ellie, Miss I'm Not a Mammoth (Queen Latifah) not only that she is indeed a mammoth but that at some point she should totally fall for him so they can repopulate the species. Hey, whatever line works for you, Manfred ol' bean. And Diego and Sid have to put up with the overly energetic antics of the 'possom brothers (Seann William Scott and Josh Peck, the latter from Nickelodeon's Drake and Josh), basically being pains in the butt. Oh, but don't worry, they'll always stick up for their "sister." The movie is mostly enjoyable. It's lacking a little bit of the charm and heart of the original, but since this is a movie aimed at an audience a tad younger than me, it's all good. I sort of found the opossums to be annoying, not clever, and even Sid the Sloth (John Leguizamo) got on my nerves from time to time. Ironically, although Manny seemed out of place in the first one, he looked much more at home here. Maybe Romano just needed a movie to grow into the role. But the one who sold me wholeheartedly was Leary, who steals about every scene he's in, bringing real life and a sardonic edge to his character.