Ice Age
Ice Age had the unfortunate timing to be released at the same time as Monsters, Inc. The plots are quite similar: creatures whose livelihood depends on their conflict with humanity accidentally acquire a human child and must return him or her to his home. Monsters, Inc. does it better.
That said, Ice Age tries very hard, and I found myself unwilling to brush it off as just a cheap version of Monsters, Inc. The animation isn't as good. The voice acting isn't as good. The script isn't as punchy or funny. And John Leguizamo is, if this is possible, even more annoying as a sloth.
The animation is good enough to make the characters look like muppets but not so good that you're really drawn into the movie. There are moments of ice reflection and water rippling that scream, "LOOK AT HOW COOL OUR ANIMATION IS" -- and they are oddly disjointed from the rest of the movie's cartoony animation. To Monsters, Inc.'s credit, you never stop and gawk at the graphics in the background even though they're vivid and colorful.
Surprisingly, the best voice acting comes from Ray Romano, of Everybody Loves Raymond fame. His brooding mammoth is compelling and a little sad. There's also a funny ice slide scene that's entertaining. There are also some very sad moments, like when the mammoth stares at a cave painting and relives the death of his family. Which explains why a mammoth is willing to take care of a "pink thing" (the baby) and return him to his family.
And yet, Ice Age does not act on the strength of its convictions. In Monsters, Inc. when the bad guys are acting bad -- they're really bad. They mean to do bad things to children and even though they never pull it off, the audience is afraid that it will actually happen. In Ice Age, the threats should be twice as realistic. Although the movie actually has more violence and danger, it ultimately cops out: the mother of the baby just disappears into a fast moving stream (off camera, no less). Diego, the sabretoothed tiger who realizes he likes his new friends more than his own pack, seems to die and then -- SURPRISE! -- limps onto the scene at the end of the movie to joins his new "herd." Ugh.
In short, Ice Age is a first time effort for a production house that's not as mature as Pixar. Not cute enough, not compelling enough, not funny enough. But close.
That said, Ice Age tries very hard, and I found myself unwilling to brush it off as just a cheap version of Monsters, Inc. The animation isn't as good. The voice acting isn't as good. The script isn't as punchy or funny. And John Leguizamo is, if this is possible, even more annoying as a sloth.
The animation is good enough to make the characters look like muppets but not so good that you're really drawn into the movie. There are moments of ice reflection and water rippling that scream, "LOOK AT HOW COOL OUR ANIMATION IS" -- and they are oddly disjointed from the rest of the movie's cartoony animation. To Monsters, Inc.'s credit, you never stop and gawk at the graphics in the background even though they're vivid and colorful.
Surprisingly, the best voice acting comes from Ray Romano, of Everybody Loves Raymond fame. His brooding mammoth is compelling and a little sad. There's also a funny ice slide scene that's entertaining. There are also some very sad moments, like when the mammoth stares at a cave painting and relives the death of his family. Which explains why a mammoth is willing to take care of a "pink thing" (the baby) and return him to his family.
And yet, Ice Age does not act on the strength of its convictions. In Monsters, Inc. when the bad guys are acting bad -- they're really bad. They mean to do bad things to children and even though they never pull it off, the audience is afraid that it will actually happen. In Ice Age, the threats should be twice as realistic. Although the movie actually has more violence and danger, it ultimately cops out: the mother of the baby just disappears into a fast moving stream (off camera, no less). Diego, the sabretoothed tiger who realizes he likes his new friends more than his own pack, seems to die and then -- SURPRISE! -- limps onto the scene at the end of the movie to joins his new "herd." Ugh.
In short, Ice Age is a first time effort for a production house that's not as mature as Pixar. Not cute enough, not compelling enough, not funny enough. But close.
posted by talien | 8:10 PM
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