2009
Starring: Ray Romano, Queen Latifah, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo, Sean William Scott, Josh Peck, Karen Disher, Simon Pegg
Director: Carlos Saldanha
Runtime: 94 Minutes
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Rating: PG

Despite a veritable explosion of bright and colorful pixilated mayhem in recent years that has made the animated genre a box office powerhouse to be reckoned with, this sub-zero family saga stands alone as the only franchise to potentially give Pixar and DreamWorks executives some sleepless nights. Yet while it continues to match the likes of Shrek stride for stride in terms of sequels and storyline, there is a sense here that perhaps the makeshift herd has migrated as far as it can and that tiny Blue Sky Studios should set their talented and capable sights on something new.

Returning co-writer/director Carlos Saldanha once again oversees matters for this third installment and the immediate familiarity of the characters is the movie’s virtue as well as its weakness. Almost as if they’ve never been away we as an audience fall right back in to their comfortable routine; Manny is still grouchy and noble, Elly is still sassy and flanked by the boundless energy of Crash and Eddie, Diego still a smartass, and Sid still inept and silly. Only, they have been away. In the meantime Pixar has raised the bar with Up and the likes of Coraline dazzled our imagination by adding just a hint of seductive darkness. But here on the tundra evolution seems to have passed our heroes by.

Click here to read the full review at Uinterview.com.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 13th, 2009 at 10:10 pm and is filed under Animation, Feature Films, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.