IF 3D is the future of blockbuster cinema, then Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs offers a depressing glimpse of how the studios are probably going to use the technology on a mass scale. Though there will be the odd exceptional 3D film in which conten
t and form are perfectly matched, don't think for a minute that the increasingly cash-conscious studios are going to spend vast resources creating more immersive visual experiences that will enrich the narrative of their films. They're going to use it in much the same way as the makers of this third instalment of the popular, kid-friendly, CG-animated franchise have used it: as a gimmick to bleed more money out of a tired concept that has already earned the studio hundreds of millions of dollars at the global box office.
Unlike Coraline, Bolt and Monsters vs Aliens, all of which used 3D as a storytelling aid, Ice Age 3 uses the extra dimension in a more basic, old-fashioned way. Which is to say, it throws in a couple of action sequences purposefully designed to make it seem as if things are flying off the screen at the audience, while the majority of the film remains as flat visually as its family values-promoting narrative is dramatically. The only thing the 3D really adds is the extra cost to your cinema ticket. There's certainly very little wow factor in watching a 3D version of the maniacal squirrel Scrat tussling with a female squirrel over his ever-elusive acorn. Nor is there much ooh-aah excitement when sabre-toothed tiger Diego (Denis Leary) bounds through the air as he fends off some tiny tyrannosaurs. Indeed, what little charm there is comes courtesy of the affection still held for the original characters – and even this has worn thin, thanks to a weak, poorly developed story built around mammoths Ellie and Manny (Queen Latifah and Ray Romano) expecting their first baby.
Not exactly a thrilling plot-kicker to begin with, this is the cue for Manny to become a bundle of paternal anxiety, which drives a wedge between him and Diego, who is itching for a little more adventure and who upsets Manny by not being sufficiently excited by his impending fatherhood. Meanwhile, Sid the sloth (John Leguizamo) has the opposite problem: he desperately wants to be a parent and so, when he uncovers some frozen dinosaur eggs, he steals them, determined to raise whatever hatches out of them as his own. That's the film's specious way of introducing what should be long-extinct dinosaurs into the film's Pleistocene simply because someone probably thought they would look cool in 3D. Of course, the fact that the studio needed a way to pad out the story for a third adventure after the second one, subtitled The Meltdown, effectively precluded any future Ice Age adventures by having a thaw come into effect, probably also had something to do with their convenient appearance.
Whatever. Logic is hardly an issue in these films, and it turns out there's a hidden dinosaur ecosystem in existence below the ice. After Sid is taken there by the fully grown T-rex whose babies he has appropriated, Manny, Ellie and Diego venture into this lost world in an effort to rescue him. Along the way they meet a wily, pirate-like weasel called Buck, who has an Ahab-like obsession with a particular dinosaur that has cost him an eye. Simon Pegg provides the voice of Buck, and he's a more worthwhile reason to see the film than either the 3D trickery or any of the returning characters. Having immersed himself in the dinosaur world, Buck has gone thoroughly bonkers and Pegg imbues him with a roguish charm that provides the film with some much-needed wit.
Unfortunately, too much time is given over to mushy, tacked-on messages about the importance of friendship and family and how rag-tag individuals can thrive on the support of others. True, there's always been something a little more basic about the Ice Age films, which may be why they've proved so popular with younger kids, for whom Pixar may still be a little advanced. But they've never been this dull. The first film was bright, fun and fast-moving; the second instalment wasn't quite up to scratch, but it still had some raucous energy to recommend it. This one, sadly, has the pacing of a glacier and the warmth of one too. That's something an extra dimension just can't overcome.
The full article contains 789 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
