IN "ICE Age," a squirrel, or some prehistoric version thereof, is faced with a heck of a predicament: how and where to bury this darned acorn. The ground is frozen solid. And his compulsive attempts to jam the thing into the frigid earth have just set off . . . an avalanche!
Scrat, as he's called, has also set off a great story. "Ice Age" may be set to below freezing, but it'll warm the coldest hearts in the room. This digitally animated movie, filled with a cast of charming, funny critters from long ago, is family entertainment at its most bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Pull your kids away from their video games. They'll love it. Better yet, so will you.
Diego, Sid and Manfred are the main characters in the animated film "Ice Age."
(20th Century Fox)
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In the brrr! times of 20,000 years ago, the creatures of the world are migrating south, looking for warmer climes. Well, most of them are. A woolly mammoth named Manfred (voice of Ray Romano) is heading the other way because, well, he's an individual. And then there's Sid (John Leguizamo), a sloth who overslept and missed the whole migration march.
Sid, an annoying, whiny type, needs a protector. It's a vicious world out there. But Manfred's a loner. He's not interested. Their fates are sealed, however, when a pack of saber-toothed tigers attacks a tribe of humans, leaving a human baby alone and defenseless.
Sid may be a sloth and a coward, but he's not heartless. He persuades Manfred to help him reunite little Roshan with his father. The humans have already moved on, thinking the baby's dead. Sid, Manfred and Roshan have to intercept them. That's quite a trek. And the saber-tooths are just a few padded steps behind.
In fact, they're even closer: A saber-tooth named Diego (Denis Leary), who's after that baby, convinces the party he's the only one who can help them track the human herd. Meet prehistory's first shady consultant.
Meanwhile, Scrat, who frequently crosses paths with Manfred and company, continues the never-ending quest to bury that acorn.
The movie, written by Michael J. Wilson, Peter Ackerman and Michael Berg, and directed by Chris Wedge, flows like a dream. There's nary a dull moment. The characters are distinctive and likable – thanks to the graceful, imaginative digital imagery and the off-screen performances. I must confess, however, I found Leguizamo's affected speech impediment as Sid more irritating than amusing. But Leary is particularly memorable as Diego, and Romano makes an amusing, streetwise woolly mammoth – even though he seems to hail, anachronistically, from one of the New York boroughs.
The writers have a flair for furry one-liners ("You're an embarrassment to nature, you know that?" Manfred tells Sid) and emotional moments. When Manfred comes upon cave paintings of mammoths, those paintings suddenly come to life as he recalls the loss of his family to humans. Visually and dramatically, it's a very telling moment. That Manfred would even think of rescuing a human child really puts a lump as big as an acorn in my throat.
ICE AGE (PG, 75 minutes) – Contains many tense moments. Area theaters.
