REELGUY'S DVD REVIEW:
"Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" an adventurous and amusing trip for whole family
Maine connection: Maine was formerly a part of Massachusetts and many of Maine's young people go to Mass for their higher education. One of the writers of the story, Mike Reiss, was Harvard-educated and the actor who voices Diego, Denis Leary, was born and raised in Worcester and attended Emerson College. Ray Romano, who voices Manny, shot the Maine set (but not filmed in) movie "Welcome to Mooseport" between voice performances in "Ice Ages" 1 and 2.
The new twist of this animated series, which began in 2002, is that our favorite group of prehistoric animals has found a lost world of dinosaurs. Obviously, time-wise, large mammals came after the extinction of the dinosaurs. This explanation, also used by Arthur Conan Doyle and Michael Crichton in their stories, allows mammoths Manny and Ellie, giant sloth Sid, and sabertooth tiger Diego (the voices of Ray Romano, Queen Latifah, John Leguizamo, and Denis Leary, respectively) to interact with these ancient lizards in a new adventure. The beautiful, lush CGI scenery and the fondness for the familiar characters help carry a slow starting story. Once the crew finds the cavern of the thunder lizards the movie gets a much needed shot of energy and humor. This energy boost is compliments of a new character voiced by Simon Pegg ("Star Trek"), who plays a swashbuckling weasel named Buck. This character's fearlessness-and craziness-makes the underground adventure much more fun and entertaining. And I am also particular to Skrat and his dialogue-less adventures with that darn acorn.
The storyline's themes revolve around the changing face of family and friends as everyone grows up and apart. Manny and Ellie are expecting a child, which alienates Diego, and to a lesser extent Sid. The guy party appears to be over as the formerly morose Manny prepares to settle down. Sid decides to try and start a family of his own which leads to the rescuing of three de-thawed dinosaur eggs. When Sid is taken from the rest of the group into the lost world, the friends go on one last adventure to retrieve him. Along for the ride are Ellie's "brothers" Eddie and Crash, a pair of possums picked up by the group in the original sequel.
Not all of the characters get fair treatment in this new story. While Manny and Ellie have the primary plot, Sid provides the side-story and call to adventure, and Buck becomes the scene-stealing new character, Diego is sadly underused. Eddie and Crash prove to be more of annoyance on this trip than welcome guests, providing little in the way of humor or assistance; not that children watching the movie will likely notice since Buck carries a good portion of the second act with his odd antics and adventurous spirit. There are moments in the picture which are quite funny for both adults and children, along with a few bits of dry adult humor for the parents. Mostly, this is a child-appropriate adventure story that will keep them amused and entertained. An improvement over the last sequel, "Dawn of the Dinosaurs" is a worthy family pick on DVD.
Rated PG for some mild rude humor and peril.
