The Meltdown (minor spoilers)

Rating: 7/10 (28 March 2006)

The prehistoric animals are again on a journey, this time escaping from a flood (the solution is borrowed right from the Bible). Their journey is not without dangers as predators watch them go. Each of the main heroes of the previous installment have a character arc of their own: the mammoth Mannny is still lonely and wants to find a female mammoth which is not easy in a race destined to extinct), Sid finds small relatives, and Diego has to overcome his fear from water. While the story is a bit sketchy just as the first one, there is much less seriousness and drama (mostly thanks to leaving humans entirely out). The effect is lighter and easier to accept by the kids: there are more animals (better animation - see their hair), more colors. Probably it's also the kids who will be the happiest to find a song in the movie (it's like the revue musical numbers from the Golden Age of Hollywood). The action sequences are really thrilling - maybe a bit too intense for the smaller ones (the monsters are really scary; they could be involved in Jurassic park movies). At the same time I think there were more childish jokes than in the first one and none of the scenes were as funny as the one with the dodos in the first one. But poor scrat's misadventures with its acorn are again incredibly funny in a merry melodies style and this time they are also better serving the main story. So if you did like the first one probably you will like this one too - and if you didn't? Probably you didn't even bother to read this review.