~* Dino Land Beckons *~. Review on Ice Age Dawn of the Dinosaurs Movie

Sequels are known to fall short of the original version and when we are talking about a threequel we can have a fair idea where we are heading for. The line you fail to miss in the posters is “Laugh your ice off”. The kiddos might succeed in shoving off some of the piled up snow, but the clichéd one liners and lagging storyline does very little to thaw the expectation of the elders.

Journey into the ice age:

Manny and Ellie are expecting their first child. Manny is so engrossed in this new responsibility that he kind of starts to ignore his pals. After Diego decides to leave, Sid is rendered friendless. He futilely tries to befriend other animals of the neighborhood and finally stumbles upon three unmanned eggs inside an ice-crack. He takes the eggs with him with the thoughts of raising the babies by himself.

Unfortunately the eggs belong to a T-Rex and soon the enraged mom comes seeking for her babies. The drama starts when mom Dino takes away Sid along with the three of her babies into the unknown dungeons where the lost world of Dinos are living. This prompts Manny, Ellie, Diego and possum twins Eddie and Crash to follow the dino tracks in the hope of rescuing Sid. As the gang ventures into the mysterious underground world, they come across various kinds of dinosaurs and all sorts of gigantic flora and fauna ready to savour them as a meal.

Scrat the squirrel is enjoyable while he goes after the ever-elusive acorn, but this time he has competition in the form of a female squirrel Scratte with whom he falls in love in the end. The joyride of the gang continues with the arrival of Buck, a dino-hunting one-eyed weasel who becomes their friend, philosopher and guide through the unfriendly underworld. He keeps us entertained with the funny one liners and high-on action flashbacks of how he had survived the fight with the most ferocious dino of the region Rudy. Wooden bridges collapse, laughing gas makes them act funny, landslides, dino attacks, volcanoes erupt as Buck takes them through the action packed trail finally helping them rescue Sid.

In the meanwhile Ellie gives birth to a girl mammoth under the surveillance of Diego and all of them return back to their own little icy world to live happily ever after.

*Added Dimension:

The biggest attraction of the movie was supposed to be the 3D effect. But sadly enough that’s the main reason this movie falls short of meeting the expectation of the crowd. The producers and directors must have shelled out a lot of money for this and no doubt when it works it makes the experience worth, but that’s the bottom line – when it works. For most of the movie we can hardly distinguish between a 2D and 3D effect. What we get is only a branch of the tree , pointy snout or a tail sticking out at us at times and by the middle of the movie you will almost forget that you are watching a 3D movie. And for those few like me who didn’t forget and tried too hard to figure out the 3D, will surely end up with a throbbing headache from the glasses and colorful starts bursting out in front of your eyes. The best 3D scene in the whole span was during the advertisement of another animation movie when flakes of ice floated across the scene. That felt real ethereal. Believe me I have seen better 3D in science museum for children. Attempting to mask the languid storyline with head-turning animation can never be excused.

*Post-analysis:

The central idea of introducing Dinosaurs in the Ice age starts off on a shaky ground as the logical mind would undoubtedly question the concept (after all dinos were long extinct before the ice age began, almost 16000 years ago). The director address to this question with a dialog from Manny wherein he says these creatures were supposed to be extinct years ago. Good try but still it fails to convince the audience as the gang travels from an ice covered time zone to a perfectly green ambience with sprawling forests and with a separate sky and a sparkling sun that lies hidden under the thick ice blanket. (Supernatural effects eh?)

The animation is richer this time with the sweeping expanse of jungle landscape and its inhabitants. The textures and colors of the characters are fuller and better. But behind this shine and glitter the story line is as thin as a feather. If only Blue Sky Studios had taken as much care while writing the screenplay for matching up with the high quality animation, the movie would have had turned out better. Apart from the funny acorn-loving squirrel’s antics and newcomer Buck, the crazy weasel beautifully brought to life by Simon Pegg’s energetic vocal performance, all the other characters appear quite cold (Might be there couldn’t thaw out from the ice age effect even in the tropical dino land).

Diego was such an entertainment in the first movie. But with sequels and threequels this character is dying a slow death it seems. His role is pretty rudimentary in this movie and I wouldn’t be surprised if he is completely chucked out in the fourth. Sid, Manny, Ellie fades into the background as the supporting characters takes the center stage. Really didn’t understand the logic behind giving the side characters more screen time. The introduction of the ferocious dino Ruddy did not make any sense apart from springing a few breath stopping chases and giving Buck enough opportunity to gloat about his victory over him.

The extensive parenting talks going on in the film really makes you feel like you are watching a sitcom on parenting. And still the over-concerned husband lets his expecting wife wander into the trials of the unknown land. Self contradicting ideas leave the audience as confused as the narrative itself.

*Some interesting scenes:

*1. When Sid tries to milk the bull

1. Sid’s conversation with the mother dino who keeps on saying grrrrrr to every question

   
   




2. Bucks comments throughout the movie

   
   




3. When Ellie goes into labor and cries out the names of fruits as a code set between herself and Manny

   
   




4. Sid’s comment on seeing the baby mammoth

   
   

I wish I had seen the movie in 2D so that I could have had a comfortable watch rather than twitching my nose and struggling with the 3D glasses. All in all a decent enough movie but it will not have a lasting impression on your mind as the previous two had.