Good Movie, but lacks direction

Rating: 6/10 (2 April 2006)

I am not outside the general consensus when I say that it was good, but not as good as the first. The movie succeeds well in its wonderful graphics, and lifelike animation. It is also, undeniably, a very funny movie and reaches out well to kids. However, the movie's downfall is in its plot and character development. In typical sequel fashion, the movie jumps right into the events of the movie with little build up or explanation. This is great if you just watched the original Ice Age in the last couple of months, but for those of us who haven't seen it since it came out a couple years ago, it feels awkward and forced. As I mentioned earlier, the filmmakers make the same mistake with character development. We are assumed to know the preexisting brotherhood and love-hate relationships between the main characters of the previous film. This is OK if your making the next James Bond film because we already know him so well, but this is only the second Ice Age film. It is within the realm of possibility that some people who watch will not have seen the original. The film needs to be able to stand alone. You may get the feeling that because I am writing so critically that I didn't enjoy the movie; however, I can assure that it is a wonderful movie and well worth seeing in a theatre. Overall it succeeds as a children's' film and is exceedingly entertaining.