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"Ice Age"
(Reviewed March 2, 2002)
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I was asked yesterday, "What is your favorite movie so far for this year?" Even though it was the first day of March, meaning I already had sat through two months of 2002 screenings, I honestly could not come up with an answer. In fact, I could not even think of a single 2002 movie that I actually would recommend!
That all changed last night. The new animated movie "Ice Age" is so good that I gladly award it an "A" grade. (This seems fitting, since I give out that grade about once every ice age...)
Last year's beautifully animated "Monsters, Inc." was undermined by a really lousy premise and the endlessly annoying Billy Crystal. In last year's beautifully animated "Shrek," the loud, ceaseless, sitcomish bickering between Shrek and the donkey just went on and on to the point where some kids in the theatre where I saw a screening actually began wailing in terror. And last year's beautifully animated "Final Fantasy" was subverted by a weak (and nearly incomprehensible) plot.
The beautifully animated "Ice Age" is better than any of those movies, if only because it has none of their weaknesses. The plot here is simple, the characters are charming, and even when those characters argue (sometimes at length), things usually do not descend into jokey sitcom hell. Best of all, each of the three main characters (four, if you count Pinky the baby) do not seem like retreads from other movies. "Ice Age" is full of great visual gags, wonderfully directed action sequences (the ice-slide segment is amazing), offbeat humor (mainly courtesy of John Leguizamo's lisping and amusingly dumb Sid the Sloth), and even a genuinely emotional moment or two. And did I mention the beautiful animation?
This is one of those rare movies that is completely enjoyable both to adults and kids. Want to know how good it is? Here is how good it is: At the overbooked screening where I saw "Ice Age," a couple of sniffling tykes were sitting on a low wall directly behind my back-row vantage point. They talked to the characters onscreen, kicked the back of my seat, and occasionally sneezed over my head. But I loved the movie anyway!
Back Row Grade: A
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