I went into Ice Age 2: The Meltdown ready for a big old bad time but I didn’t get it. The first 25 minutes of the film are appropriately brutal and frown inspiring but things pick up after the initial badness and you will find about a dozen chuckle worthy moments during the rest of it. That’s about as much as you could ask for in a kid’s film so quit your dirty complaining Baron von Hooker.
I’ll talk about the bad part first so we can end this review on a positive note. The film starts out with the old crew realizing everything is going to flood and that they should probably run like hell. Before they start the running; Sid (John Leguizamo) is running a school for children who abuse him, Manny the Mammoth (Ray Romano) is walking to and fro being responsible and Diego (Denis Leary), the saber tooth tiger, is strolling about acting appropriately surly. The whole intro is so chalk, that is to say you’ve seen this beginning in every children’s film ever, that you almost fall asleep in anger.
Okay, but then things pick up! Leguizamo is a savior during this segment, he doles out one liners left and right and about half find their mark. I was also kind of surprised about how many jokes there were about death and sex… even if they were a bit embedded I think youngsters today might pick up on them and then turn to drugs or something. The MPAA should have come down harder on this one; so many fragile minds have now been lost. Kidding of course, freaking right-wingers.
Another knock on this sequel is the love aspect, it is cliche and far too easy to fall back on. Queen Latifah is fine as the voice of the fem mammoth/possum but the plot point itself is worthless and doesn’t advance the funny in the slightest. Why does everyone feel the need to insert poignant messages into small people’s films? I think the kids just want to be entertained, but then again I’ve been asked to stay away from all children for the next few years.
At the end of the day you won’t mind this one as an adult and you’ll probably be delirious with glee if you’re a child. I’d say it was fun for the whole family if I believed in something so quaint as family. I would have liked to see the mammoth maul someone with his giant tusks or perhaps some mammoth love between Romano and Queen Latifah (kidding again, but not really) but I know this isn’t that type of adventure. Maybe in the unrated DVD?
I should also mention the other new additions aside from Queen Latifah as Ellie the mammoth; we also have her “brothers” the two wily possums Crash (Seann William Scott) and Eddie (Josh Peck). These two crack jokes throughout the duration of the flick and while they don’t hit the mark quite as often as Leguizamo they are a nice addition.
