Scrat easily upstages the prehistoric script of Ice Age 2

Rating: 3/10 (7 April 2006)

The number one thing you will hear from people about this movie is, "if it wasn't for that squirrel, it would have been a lot worse." And they're absolutely right. Scrat is animated proof that dialog is not required to create entertainment. Yet somehow, Ice Age: The Meltdown forgets about it when its attention is diverted back to the main story, which is unappealing to begin with.
Like in Toy Story 2, new characters are introduced to the original pack of Manny, Sid and Diego, but they're one step away from total nut jobs and are generally not very likable characters. Supporting cast includes the other animals in the land, most of which are incredibly crude. This movie is chock-full of innuendo and incredibly distasteful dialog that no one from child to adult laughed at in the theater, and was completely unnecessary.
The reason why Scrat is everyone's favorite character, perhaps apart from the hilarious and innocent Sid, is because he never speaks, and the dialog in The Meltdown is abysmally poor. There where many parts where a bit of good animation to cue an emotion instead of shoddy dialog would have made this movie insurmountably more entertaining, enjoyable and a downright good film. Yet instead, lame jokes and corny dialog that has the audience's eyes rolling were furiously painted all over this movie.
Maybe I would have enjoyed the story and new characters more if it wasn't for all of these circumstances. It seems as though a lot of absolutely stunning animation was put to waste due to B-movie humor and script writing. It's really ashame, because the animation team behind the Meltdown really know what they're doing. Unfortunately, the rest of the film really takes the backseat to the animation in The Meltdown.
I wouldn't recommend this film to anyone except very young children, or those who are simply interested in seeing some nice animation.
3/10