Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
The mammals are back and this time they face off against… wait for it…
Tags: Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs Categories: DVD/TV Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Nov 5th, 2009
So, I had thought that the Ice Age films were taking place during the most recent ice age, what with the wooly mammoth, saber-toothed cat and other mammals. I was a bit puzzled when the third film came with the added title of Dawn of the Dinosaurs. Those prehistoric creatures were pretty much gone by the time the ice age style mammals were prominent, so “dawn” seemed out of place.
My confusion was cleared up when Sid (the giant ground sloth with little intelligence) finds a few eggs that appear to have been lost to time in the ice. These turn out to house Tyrannosaurus Rex babies. Their supposed extinction is brought up, so we know it is a conscious decision to introduce them to the plot.
The story revolves around the growing makeshift “herd’ that Manny, Diego and Sid started in the first film and expanded upon in the second. Now family life is taking over and sheer survival isn’t necessarily at the forefront. This provides part of the film’s subplot with Diego, who seems to be loosing his predatory instincts. It isn’t really explored much, unfortunately, as the emphasis is very much on Sid and his desire to “fit in” with the growing family as Ellie and Manny are expecting their first child.
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs earns its “PG” rating by having plenty of jokes that are a bit more grown up than one might expect. The film isn’t particularly scary, at least to my 6 year old, but it is easy to see where some younger viewers would get scared. Some of the cultural references are certainly much more “adult” in nature as well.
While it doesn’t feel as fresh as when the franchise debuted, the characters are still fun enough to watch. Scrat, the saber-toothed squirrel, features prominently and generates quite a few laughs with his own sub-plot of finding love amongst the acorns. New to the franchise is Buck, an insane (literally) character that doesn’t look like he’s going to be joining the cast for the inevitable sequel, which is a shame because he provided quite a bit of the forward momentum that was somehow lacking with the main plot threads.
Kids will enjoy watching the film several items over and parents will be able to sit and watch it without getting bored at least once. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs is more enjoyable than I had expected.
The Blu-ray comes with a decent set of special features, starting off with a DVD copy of the film. It doesn’t have all of the special features, but it’s a great inclusion for those that have yet to upgrade but are still forward thinking. The audio commentary is jam packed with people (directors, artists, producers) and doesn’t provide nearly as much insight as one might think. None of the voice cast is present, a notable omission.
Focusing on the saber-toothed squirrel, a number of featurettes seem to know who the real star of the show is. First up we have two shorts that feature Scrat – “Gone Nutty” and “No Time For Nuts”. Then we get a featurette looking at the female of the species and its creation. A few fake news/documentary featurettes are also present, but perhaps the best is an instructional video of how to draw the breakout star.
Rounding out the special features are some marketing pieces from FOX Movie Channel, a featurette on the “lost world” of the dinosaurs featured in the film, another on its creation, storyboards for a couple of deleted scenes, an interview with Simon Pegg on the character of Buck, a music video, and a storybook maker (that is much more trouble than it is worth).
It’s the third film in an animated franchise – what are you expecting?
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
+ Humorous fun with the gang + Plenty of extras |
6.5 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- Humor a little too "grown up" for a kid's movie - Character development (such as it is) feels forced - Audio commentary has so many people but little substance |
|
| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| If you go into Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs expecting Jurassic Park thrils and high comedy, then you need to spend more time actually watching movies to set your bearings straight. The film does what it sets out to do, and that is add another notch to the franchise belt. | |
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Tags: Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Nov 5th, 2009 and is filed under DVD/TV Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
