Starring: Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Simon Pegg
After an ordinary second instalment, the Ice Age franchise needs a return to form or face extinction. With Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs, the series gets a timely boost thanks to better visuals and the vocal talents of Simon Pegg.
The sprawling storyline sees mammoth Manny (Romano), sabre-tooth tiger Diego (Leary) and sloth Sid (Leguizamo) swap their snow-covered environs for greener pastures.
When Sid adopts three dinosaur eggs he is carried away by a pissed-off mamma T-Rex.
Manny and Diego set off to rescue him and are helped by the Rambo of the weasel world, Buck (Pegg).
Visually, Ice Age 3 leaves its predecessors in the dust, with striking landscapes and dinosaurs packing extra punch when viewed through 3-D glasses.
An already talented vocal cast is boosted by Pegg, whose crafty weasel should have its own film. Script-wise Ice Age 3 isn’t so hot, and fans used to the clever pop culture references of Pixar offerings will be disappointed.
Still, there’s enough good stuff here to make Ice Age cool again.
Good for: Fans of Jurassic Park.
PIERRE DE VILLIERS