Films/DVD Asylum

May be good for rug-rats, but not UP to PIXAR snuff.

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This Post Has Been Edited by the Author

In Reply to: RE: "Ice Age III: Dawn of the Dinosaurs:" take your little rug rats in posted by tinear on July 12, 2009 at 09:52:08

Every one of PIXAR's films have been excellent (my opinion; YMMV), and while some animated films trying to challenge PIXAR may come close to the mark, few get within striking distance, and Ice Age 3 gets frozen out completely as I see it. Subjectively speaking, the best animated films so far this year are "Coraline" (not recommended for younger kids, but an excellent, thought provoking film, esp. good in 3D), "Monsters vs. Aliens" (excellent all around animted film with clever storyline; looks great in 3D) and "Up" (on a par with all other groundbreaking PIXAR films, 3D visuals notwithstanding; has a poignant story dealing with a serious subject).

Unfortunately, I have to agree with a consensus of the critical assessments made about Ice Age: whatever this series had, it used up in the second film. I like films that feature dinosaurs cleverly, even as characters, but here it was more than a stretch combined with way too much of boring chase footage and little in the way of logical resolution. You're probably thinking: Does an animated 'cartoon' feature need logical resolution and character growth? Well, that depends on the concept and the intended audience, but the great ones do have it, and they strive for more depth than subjecting the audience to one long amusement park ride with inserted Wiley Coyote/Roadrunner rip-offs (excuse me, "homages").

The cleverness of Ice Age is basically wrapped up a one note theme of now-extinct animals trying to adjust to a changing world. IMO, the first one, which utilized interaction with humans, didn't work as well as the second which featured only animals interacting, but the third film employed a plot devoid of any logic and very few visual and verbal gags worthy of it's feature status. Ice Age 3 is a film of mind-numbing chases and stale character ideas borrowed from other films (King Kong & Pirates of the Caribbean being the most obvious).

AuPh

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