Director: Carlos Saldanha and Mike Thurmeier
Starring Ray Romano, Dennis Leary, Queen Latifah, John Leguizimo, Sean William Scott
The most dysfunctional prehistoric pack is back in the franchise threequel and while they’re not as charming as they were in their first outing, they can still keep the laughs coming. And more importantly, Scrat’s got a girlfriend!
It begins with a proposed visit by the proverbial stork for Manny (Ray Romano) and Ellie (Queen Latifah) and our mammoth hero is geared up for fatherhood. Diego, on the other hand, is beginning to miss the call of adventure and finds himself hopelessly out of shape and Sid, who’s desperate not be alone again, treks out to trying his own family to fit into. The next thing you know, Sid’s a mother to three dinosaur kids and finds himself kidnapped by the real mother along with his “babies”. Now it’s up to his misfit family to swing into action and save him and tie up all the loose ends.
While this family comedy has it’s moments, for the most of it, you’ll watch the movie just for familiarity’s sake. You know how exactly how this one is going to end and not for one moment is there any doubt that Manny and his pride are in any real danger. Ray Romano is back in nervous father mode very reminiscent of his sitcom days and the loner pachyderm of part one is long gone. And we have strong reason to believe that Sid is finally coming out of the closet about his transgender ways. His motherly affection for his dinosaur babies gets a bit too much at times.
On the plus side, Scrat’s love affair with the elusive acorn becomes a triangle of sorts with a new marsupial in the mix. Scrat spends a lot of his subplot doing a bunch of PG13 scenes in true Bollywood style ie behind flowers and running around trees. And then there’s an insane new character introduced who helps the Ice Age gang in their quest for Sid, namely Buck, an Aussie guerilla weasel who lives out in the jungles of the dinosaurs.
Our verdict: It’s perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon when you’re looking for some good, clean PG13 fun