Ice Age: The Melt Down Movie Review

Ice Age II The Melt Down

The sequel Ice Age: The Meltdown is a rousing and a good follow-up to the 2002 hit Ice Age. It features fun new characters, some great gags, and more antics by Scrat. However, some scary moments and profanity jokes make it more appropriate for older kids than younger ones. Unlike the original movie, Meltdown setting aside tedious heartwarming material and lectures on life, Meltdown charges full ahead with bright gags and snappy action, making for an unexpectedly satisfying sequel.

The sequel picks up in the midst of global warming when all of the animals of the Arctic valley are forced to leave before the ice turns into a huge body of water. The trio from the first film, Manny the Mammoth (Romano), Sid the Sloth (Leguizamo), and Diego the Tiger (Leary), find themselves in a virtual water park along with their fellow beasts. However, they soon come to the realization that disaster is looming. The ice dam that keeps their valley dry is melting and threatens to wipe them all out in a flood. (I guess it's a prehistoric New Orleans.) All of the creatures head towards the other end of the valley where they have heard that there is an ark, of sorts, that can save them from the flood.

Manny's situation is particularly unique in that everyone believes he's the last of his mammoth species. Manny may be ready to start a family, but nobody has seen another mammoth for a long time. That is, until he miraculously finds Ellie, the only female mammoth left in the world. There's one little hitch  they can't stand each other and Ellie somehow thinks she's a possum! Accompanied by her two possum brothers Eddie and Crash, she refuses to believe that she's a mammoth but she joins our heroic trio for protection.

Meantime, Manny, Sid and Diego quickly learn that the warming climate has one major drawback: A huge glacial dam holding off oceans of water is about to break, threatening the entire valley. The only chance of survival lies at the other end of the valley. So our three heroes, along with Ellie, Crash and Eddie, form the most unlikely family in any "Age" as they embark on a mission across an ever-changing, increasingly dangerous landscape towards their salvation. Will they be wiped out or will there be an "Ice Age 3"? And how will Scrat inevitably save the day?

I enjoyed "Ice Age: The Meltdown" quite a bit. The film is wackier than its predecessor and features a lot less drama. This really increases the pacing of the story and allows more time for the characters to play up their strengths. While the characters from the original return true to form, a few new characters are added that fit in perfectly with the cast. Leading them is Queen Latifah as Ellie. She's funny and charming as a mammoth that thinks she's a possum. She hangs from trees and creeps around with amusing results. Accompanying her are Seann William Scott as Crash and Josh Peck as Eddie. They're kind of annoying at first, but they grow on you as the film progresses. They end up delivering some of the funnier moments of the movie.
"Ice Age: The Meltdown" has a number of great moments. Scrat returns to deliver most of them as he continues his never-ending quest for acorns. Scrat's physical comedy bits of him trying to secure acorns are some of the funniest of any animated film. Besides the antics of the possums, there's a surreal musical number where a group of vultures sing "Food, Glorious Food". It's so delightful you'll never think of the song in the same way again.
From the animation point of view, it's almost identical to its predecessor. There's little change in the characters or environments. However, they do some impressive tricks with matted, wet hair on Manny and hair floating underwater. Those pieces of animation were very well done.

Al in all, i can say that Ice Age: The Meltdown is more better than the original movie in almost all aspects. It offer us a complete movie experience as the suspense is raised with vultures, killer fish, and treacherous terrain, but there is also a sweet romance and laughs for moviegoers of all ages.