Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs **** (2009, voices of Ray Romano, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo, Simon Pegg, Queen Latifah) – Classic Movie Review 4027

An enchanting underground world of dinosaurs and Simon Pegg’s hilariously silly Brit voice as Buck the one-eyed weasel who hunts them add loads of new fun to the delightful Ice Age saga in directors Carlos Saldanha and Mike Thurmeier’s third movie in the series. The blockbuster animated franchise is produced by Blue Sky Studios, a division of 20th Century Fox.

Manny the mammoth, Diego the sabre-toothed tiger and Sid the sloth (voiced by Ray Romano, Denis Leary and John Leguizamo) are back for this highly amusing, often brilliant second sequel, in which Manny and Ellie (Queen Latifah) are expecting a baby, prompting Diego to slope off on his own and Sid to steal dinosaur eggs to start his own family.

Tip-top animation, the super characters, witty vocals and a quirkily funny script are the keys to success in this still surprisingly fresh cartoon – even better seen in 3D. The ending will melt all but the hardest of hearts.

Better than part 2, Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006), Ice Age 3, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, is cool!

The 2002 Ice Age was hugely popular, taking $383 million worldwide, and four sequels have followed – Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006), Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009), Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) and Ice Age: Collision Course (2016).

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 4027

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