ARTS

The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, April 4, 2006 - 9

'Ice' is
By Christina Choi
Daily Arts Writer

There's a riveting scene in

Meltdown" in which the
insipid sloth Sid (voiced
by John Leguizamo,
"Land of the Dead")
plummets from the sta-
tus of a worshipped fire
god to that of a sacrifi-
cial lamb. Pondering his

Ic
At
a
2

diversionary
Brace yourselves, kiddies, this film ha
all: family-friendly comedy, action-pac
scenes involving some massive, hideous
creatures, a sweet moral of friendship;
even a mammoth love interest named E
"Ice Age: The (Queen Latifah, "Last Holiday"), whoi
vently believes herself to be an opossi
e Age: The The plot is innocent and captivating,s
Meltdown the film's sophisticated animation is se-
less enough to make Manny's drenched
the Showcase appear strikingly realistic.
nd Quality 16 The film plays to its young audience ad
20th Century Fox rably without neglecting the rightful ow
of daddy's plastic. Kids will squeal w
eclares, "This Manny admits that a burro is really a "w
bad." ass" to a group of baby animals, yet ad
the film itself. will also chuckle when one tot interru
predecessor, Manny's sentence with the random exclar
lves around a tion of "Sometimes, I throw up!"
multuous era. So what's wrong? For one, the f
rapidly melt- delights in glorifying the stereotypes t
(Ray Romano, some deem deathly poisonous to all m
aond") and his kind. By placing Ellie in a dangerous sit
ons must head tion after she stubbornly chooses to diso
k-like tree, lest Manny, the audience is subtly told t
asp!) extinct. females always need rescuing.

family cool
as it It's also perfectly OK, in the film's world,
ked to beat a stupid person (a.k.a. Sid) as long
sea as he's too many apples short of a bushel to
and take offense. Imagine this message imprint-
llie ed on a gaggle of preschoolers with twigs
fer- and plastic rakes at their disposal.
um. But perhaps they're too young to be both-
and ered by these subliminal impressions. Even
am- the scariest of dangers, in all their PG glory,
fur are never insurmountable. Consider the con-
man armadillo Fast Tony (Jay Leno, TV's
mi- "The Tonight Show"). Upon the discovery of
'ner his turtle friend's mysteriously empty shell,
hen Tony sheds no tears and instead hawks the
vild now-vacant shell as a convenient "mobile
ults home." Tragedy is smoothly bypassed with
apts the lure of a spacious interior.
ma- Despite its dependence on stereotypical
personalities, "Ice Age: The Meltdown"
ilm remains a lovable film that beckons adults
hat into a world where farting is still hilarious
an- and heaven's just one big acorn. The film
ua- boils down to the fact that once any disbelief
bey has been successfully suspended, it's all too
hat easy to get lost in a theater full of the giddy
squeals of childish laughter.

new situation, he succinctly d
is either really good or really
How strangely perceptive of
Like its warmly received
the sequel to "Ice Age" revo
journey of friendship in a tu
This time, though, the ice is
ing and Manny the mammoth
TV's "Everybody Loves Raym
clan of dysfunctional compani
toward the safety of a giant ark.
they all drown and become (ga

Courtesy of 20th Century Fox

Life would be so much cooler If mammoths were still around ...