Today’s Prayer Focus
MOVIE REVIEW
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
also known as “Ice Age 3,” “L'âge de glace 3—Le temps des dinosaures,” “A Idade do Gelo 3—Despertar dos Dinossauros,” “Buz devri 3—Dinozorlarin safagi,” “Doba ledová 3,” “Ice Age 3—Die Dinosaurier sind los,” See all »
MPA Rating:
for some mild rude humor and peril.
for some mild rude humor and peril.
Reviewed by: Patty Moliterno
CONTRIBUTOR
| Moral Rating: | Offensive |
| Moviemaking Quality: |
|
| Primary Audience: | Kids Teens Adults |
| Genre: | Animation Comedy Sequel |
| Length: | 1 hr. 34 min. |
| Year of Release: | 2009 |
| USA Release: |
July 1, 2009 (wide—4,000 theaters) DVD: October 27, 2009 |
Relevant Issues
DINOSAUR ORIGIN—Where did the dinosaurs come from? Answer
Are dinosaurs mentioned in the BIBLE? Answer
WHY did God create dinosaurs? Answer
LIVING WITH DINOSAURS—What would it have been like to live with dinosaurs? Answer
EXTINCTION—Why did dinosaurs become extinct? Answer
NOAH’S ARK—Did Noah take dinosaurs on the Ark? Answer
DINOSAURS AFTER THE FLOOD—Following the Flood, what happened to dinosaurs? Answer
Visit our dinosaur-size Web site where you’ll discover a mountain of knowledge and amazing discoveries. How do dinosaurs fit into the Bible? You’ll find the answer to this and many more of your questions. Play games, browse and learn. Includes many helps for teachers and parents.
Adventures in the rainforest! Learn about the Creator of the universe by exploring His marvelous creation. Fun for the whole family with games, activities, stories, answers to children’s questions, color pages, and more! One of the Web’s first and most popular Christian Web sites for children. Nonprofit, evangelical, nondenominational.
Top choice for accurate, in-depth information on Creation/Evolution. The SuperLibrary is provided by a top team of experts from various respected creationist organizations who answer your questions on a wide variety of topics. Multilingual.
Answers about the Ice Age
From Christian Answers theam member Answers In Genesis
| Featuring | Simon Pegg, Seann William Scott, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Queen Latifah, Josh Peck, Ray Romano, Joey King, Atticus Shaffer, Chris Wedge, Eunice Cho, Karen Disher, Jason Fricchione |
| Director |
Carlos Saldanha, Mike Thurmeier |
| Producer | Blue Sky Studios, John C. Donkin, Lori Forte |
| Distributor |
Manny (Ray Romano) is back as the wooly mammoth, and he is traveling with the usual pack of misfits. Ellie (Queen Latifah) and Manny are a couple, and they are expecting a little mammoth. With them getting ready for the arrival of their baby, Sid (the sloth) and Diego (the Sabretooth) feel they are intruding in the family and go on their separate ways.
While alone, Sid finds some dinosaur eggs and hatches them, and lo and behold, mama dinosaur (T-Rex) shows up and takes her babies and Sid under the ice into a land below the ice (which just happens to be green and lush). When Manny and Diego find out, they set out to rescue Sid and once again become a family.
While this group is in down-under dinosaurland, they encounter an Australian weasel named Buck (voice of Simon Pegg—who most recently starred in “Star Trek” as Scotty). Buck is a fairly likeable fellow, and he helps them in their quest. All the while, Scat (the squirrel) chases an acorn, fighting his female love interest in a love-hate relationship.
This film is very slow moving for the first 30-45 minutes, and I had trouble staying awake. While I did not see this film in 3D, I have seen other films in the past year in 3D and the experience is wonderful, however, it does not justify (in my mind) an added $3.50-$5.00 price tag. I had heard, before seeing the film, from someone who happened to see it at a sneak peak, that the added price tag was just not worth it. I didn’t ask if the movie itself was worth it, because I like to go into a review without being tainted by other opinions.
This movie was not worth seeing at all, but since you are reading this review, you probably want to be aware of several things. There are the usual name-calling words that you would rather your kids not pick up, like stupid, butt, darn (but I had to ask several other people if they said d-mn), idiot, wacko, etc.
It is the other content of the film (and there is a lot of it) that makes this truly not worth seeing. I will only highlight a few of the sexual and adult lines in the film. Early in the film, the comment that Ellie has a “bun in the oven” is said. While this appears mild, I do not want my 4 or 6 year old repeating that to a pregnant woman; many of the comments were that like that—not horrible, but obviously, not appropriate in a children’s film.
- “Guys don’t talk to guys about guy problems—we just punch each other in the shoulders”
- “Isn’t Ellie supposed to be the one with the hormonal imbalance?”
- “Nice girl, with low standards”
- Sid tries to “milk a yak” and runs away screaming “I thought you were a female”
- Comment made about a male sloth—“single mother with 3 kids”
- “I knew that guy when he was a caterpillar before he came out”
- Comment about covering the front—“that’s where all the good stuff is”
- Ellie is shown having labor pains, and then she is off screen, and Diego is coaching her; when the baby is born Sid says “It’s a boy” and is told “That’s its tail”
- The squirrel is kicked in the crotch.
- Diego and Manny are squeezed into a tight place together, and the comment is “I feel tingly” and the reply “Don’t say that when you’re pressed up against me.”
There is also a level of violence that may scare small children. Dinosaurs are chasing everyone. There are flying dinosaurs, huge T-Rex and an even bigger “Great White” that is often seen as only ground shaking and huge footprints, but finally surfaces at the end and is a huge monster of a dinosaur.
If you decide to go—you can use this film to teach your children about family and friends and the importance of helping one another. Manny and Ellie are happy about having a baby, and Manny prepares his ice world to try and protect the coming bundle of joy. When Sid is taken, the “family” takes off to save him.
Psalm 127:3 says “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward,” and this movie does portray that. When Sid hatches eggs, he works to protect those “children.” The mother T-rex comes to reclaim her lost children. Manny is concerned with his family expanding and does everything he can to protect their surroundings.
My recommendation: Save your money—this one is definitely not worth seeing.
Violence: Moderate / Profanity: Mild / Sex/Nudity: Moderate
See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.
Positive
Positive—I like the way Angela puts it in her review: It’s not about counting the inappropriate jokes (there are a few, but none that your little kid will get or even be able to imitate) and swear words (there are none). It’s about the message the film sends. This Ice Age film, like the two before it, heavily stresses the bond of family and friendship in the face of adversity. That’s all. It’s not trying to push a gay message with Sid trying to act as a mom. That’s like saying that “Up” was pushing a gay message because Russell thought the rainbow-colored bird was a boy (one of my friends actually thought this, bless his heart). It’s trying to see offense where there is none. That’s the problem with many Christians who go see movies, or who even just go about their daily lives. They are waiting and expecting to be offended, and hence they miss out on a lot of good lessons they can learn if they simply suspend their knee-jerk reactions and put a little thought into why they are offended and if they should be.
I spend a lot of time around non-Christians in college, and I have found that, contrary to the popular Christian belief, non-Christians are NOT trying to pull us away from our religion. They are perfectly happy for us to have our own faith. All they want is for us to respect them, but most of the time we’re being too offended to remember to give them that respect. Now that we have established that this movie is, in fact, not offensive, and that it does have a good message, we can move on the quality of the film as a film. Well, folks, you’ll be glad to hear that it’s a great movie. About on level with the first, and better than the second.
The thing I really like about the Ice Age franchise is that they have retained a modesty with their sequels. While many franchise double their budgets and add half an hour of pure action to their sequels, Ice Age remembers that story comes first, and it builds the action around the characters instead of the characters around the action. In fact, “Ice Age 2” committed the very rare fault (amongst Hollywood franchise, that is) of not being ambitious enough. This third installment, however, ups the ante with a foray into a hidden world under the ice--a dinosaur world! By the way, the Ice Age series has a scientific timeline that simply does not exist in the real world. Species live when they shouldn’t have and mingle where they shouldn’t, but somehow it becomes a minor detail because the characters are just too charismatic and the story just too fun.
I suppose, though, that some Christians will say that the movie is accurate in that it depicts dinosaurs living together with more recent species just as they believe, despite science proving differently. You can decide for yourself whether or not all this is a good thing or a bad thing. Oh, this movie also has great action, much better than what was in Transformers 2. The action is exciting and easy to follow, and once again it’s centered around the characters. Be warned that it is a bit violent. That is easily the “worst” thing about this film. That and the “T-Rex to T-Rachel” joke.
Outright violence has always done more harm than mild rude humor, and anyone who thinks differently has bought into the social myth perpetuated by the MPA. But it’s not offensive; I had a good time, and I laughed at the aforementioned joke, because it WAS funny, though its implications were rather gross (I repeat, though, that many little kids won’t get it, and since the joke only makes sense in context they can’t repeat it). Oh, and there’s more of Scrat and a new squirrel: the femme fatale Scratté. Some of their sequences are very funny, and some of their are downright beautiful to watch.
Bottomline: family fun with a good message, a story that is easy to follow, and characters that are easy to like. Not offensive. Well-made. My 11-year-old sister and I highly enjoyed it.
Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 4½
I spend a lot of time around non-Christians in college, and I have found that, contrary to the popular Christian belief, non-Christians are NOT trying to pull us away from our religion. They are perfectly happy for us to have our own faith. All they want is for us to respect them, but most of the time we’re being too offended to remember to give them that respect. Now that we have established that this movie is, in fact, not offensive, and that it does have a good message, we can move on the quality of the film as a film. Well, folks, you’ll be glad to hear that it’s a great movie. About on level with the first, and better than the second.
The thing I really like about the Ice Age franchise is that they have retained a modesty with their sequels. While many franchise double their budgets and add half an hour of pure action to their sequels, Ice Age remembers that story comes first, and it builds the action around the characters instead of the characters around the action. In fact, “Ice Age 2” committed the very rare fault (amongst Hollywood franchise, that is) of not being ambitious enough. This third installment, however, ups the ante with a foray into a hidden world under the ice--a dinosaur world! By the way, the Ice Age series has a scientific timeline that simply does not exist in the real world. Species live when they shouldn’t have and mingle where they shouldn’t, but somehow it becomes a minor detail because the characters are just too charismatic and the story just too fun.
I suppose, though, that some Christians will say that the movie is accurate in that it depicts dinosaurs living together with more recent species just as they believe, despite science proving differently. You can decide for yourself whether or not all this is a good thing or a bad thing. Oh, this movie also has great action, much better than what was in Transformers 2. The action is exciting and easy to follow, and once again it’s centered around the characters. Be warned that it is a bit violent. That is easily the “worst” thing about this film. That and the “T-Rex to T-Rachel” joke.
Outright violence has always done more harm than mild rude humor, and anyone who thinks differently has bought into the social myth perpetuated by the MPA. But it’s not offensive; I had a good time, and I laughed at the aforementioned joke, because it WAS funny, though its implications were rather gross (I repeat, though, that many little kids won’t get it, and since the joke only makes sense in context they can’t repeat it). Oh, and there’s more of Scrat and a new squirrel: the femme fatale Scratté. Some of their sequences are very funny, and some of their are downright beautiful to watch.
Bottomline: family fun with a good message, a story that is easy to follow, and characters that are easy to like. Not offensive. Well-made. My 11-year-old sister and I highly enjoyed it.
Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 4½
JM, age 19 (USA)
Positive—I just want to say I have seen this movie with my husband and two children, ages 10 and 11. … While the “Ice Age” did contain some mild potty type humor, it was really pretty clean and an enjoyable movie for the whole family. It was not offensive or anti Christian. I just don’t get the review or some of the negative comments at all. Did we see the same movie?
Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 3½
Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 3½
Leslie G, age 46 (USA)
Positive—Offensive, really?? This movie is fine for all ages. I would have had no problem taking my child when she was 4-6 years old. Don’t like how they say some things—then use it to teach your kids. But seriously, this movie is just fine for Christian parents to take their young kids to. They probably hear worse in Christian pre-school.
Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 4
Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 4
Joe, age 61 (USA)
Positive—This film was very funny. Say whatever you will, as an adult, but the whole theatre full of kids was roaring for most of the film. I personally found it funnier than the first one. I was worried about letting my children see it before I reviewed it first. I have three boys of ages 9, 13, 14. They were laughing the whole film. There were many references to the penis and sex. One comment about changing a boy dinosaur into a “transsexual” with a knife. While most of these comments were beyond the children’s heads, I wouldn’t get the DVD because of the over exposure children get with playing it time after time. I don’t think the comment about “nice girls with low standards” was anything but a comment of how a girl would have to overlook Sid’s faults in order to marry him. The reviewer makes it sound like the girl was sleazy. It doesn’t mean that. If you have seen the first two movie, I doubt this one will surprise you. I made the comment to my wife that if I had three girls instead of three boys, I would have thought twice about taking them.
Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 4
Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 4
Chris Ransom, age 43 (USA)
Positive—I agree with Christian Spotlight that there is some adult humor. I did not find it offensive. It was entertaining for my wife, myself, my son who is 12, my daughter who is 8 and my oldest dayghter who is 14 did get a little bored but she stayed with us. I did not see anything that eluded to alternative lifestyles or anti christian bigotry. I agree there are a few parts that have sort of adult humor but I did not find it out of wack.
Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 4½
Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 4½
Mike, age 51 (USA)
Neutral
Neutral—I have to admit I did enjoy most of it, there were a few moments where it was what I would label as scary for children with showing dinosaur shadows and eyes chasing other animals. Some of the movie was definitely aimed at teenagers/adults with its humor. On a positive note, Manny and the rest of the herd go looking for Sid as even with his differences/way he acts/smells, they still consider him a friend and would do anything for each other and others, which is great teaching for our children especially in today’s society.
Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 4
Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 4
Tracey, age 36 (Australia)
Neutral—Ok, I do not understand what the big deal is. My 4 year old and I saw this, and we both loved it and laughed the whole time. I understand how some parents might not want their children hearing the jokes like “he was a caterpillar before he came out,” but my child (and I can’t imagine anyone else’s) even beginning to comprehend what that COULD mean… I think the people who gave this such bad reviews are the ones who would not be happy no matter what the movie was about. If it was purely Biblical they’d have some comment to make on “well the attire wasn’t Biblical-times accurate” or something like that. The movie did display the concept of unselfishness by the friends risking their own lives to save another in danger, which was great. Our children don’t live in a bubble—no matter how much you may try to create one around them, so the next time that viewer goes to see a movie, I’d advise them to go with the intention of ENJOYING THEMSELVES, and not to go with a criticizing heart, as it was a very funny movie that, to me, was neutral of anything immoral.
Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 5
Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 5
Kristen, age 25 (USA)
Neutral—Having just come back from seeing the movie, my wife and I were discussing what we had seen, and our opinions of this film. Neither one of us were greatly impressed with the story line, and we both caught the subtle (and not so subtle) messages and script. We both felt that the movie was okay, but not up to the standard of the first two. There was too much “potty humour” to make the movie totally enjoyable.
For Christians who were/are concerned about what movies that you want your children to see, I would suggest caution on this movie. Having a small child seeing this may bring up questions that are age inappropriate. One big problem I have with many of the reviews are those who try to make an inappropriate movie acceptable to Christians, or rationalize in going to see it. Having said that, the movie does have some strong points. The first is the value of family and friends. True friends stick by you when things get tough; matter of fact that is how you determine who are your true friends.
The family in this movie stick by each other, and stand guard for those who are defenseless. I like the line, when Diego says, “I have your back.” That is true friendship and loyalty. Christians have a friend who sticks by us closer than a brother. The second is that the family is under attack from all sorts of dangers out in the world. Friends and family pull together in the face of that danger and are willing to defend the young and helpless in face of threats to the family and to the young.
This movie shows the nuclear family coming together to stop the danger and threats to both the wife and the child. Overall, both my wife and I felt that these series should have stopped at the 2nd one. This movie had its moments, but I doubt if we will buy the DVD when it comes out. We both give it a “do pass” but with reservations. I hope that this ends the series of “Ice Age.” Much was lost in this third of the series.
Moral rating: Very Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 2½
For Christians who were/are concerned about what movies that you want your children to see, I would suggest caution on this movie. Having a small child seeing this may bring up questions that are age inappropriate. One big problem I have with many of the reviews are those who try to make an inappropriate movie acceptable to Christians, or rationalize in going to see it. Having said that, the movie does have some strong points. The first is the value of family and friends. True friends stick by you when things get tough; matter of fact that is how you determine who are your true friends.
The family in this movie stick by each other, and stand guard for those who are defenseless. I like the line, when Diego says, “I have your back.” That is true friendship and loyalty. Christians have a friend who sticks by us closer than a brother. The second is that the family is under attack from all sorts of dangers out in the world. Friends and family pull together in the face of that danger and are willing to defend the young and helpless in face of threats to the family and to the young.
This movie shows the nuclear family coming together to stop the danger and threats to both the wife and the child. Overall, both my wife and I felt that these series should have stopped at the 2nd one. This movie had its moments, but I doubt if we will buy the DVD when it comes out. We both give it a “do pass” but with reservations. I hope that this ends the series of “Ice Age.” Much was lost in this third of the series.
Moral rating: Very Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 2½
David Quin, age 59 (USA)
Negative
Negative—…When being led by the pirate character and getting stuck in the gases; the animals were HIGH in the gases and giggling, passing out, short term memory problems and delayed laughter. Clearly stoned, disgusting. Twice a male was thought to be a female, even the newborn—“Oh, that’s her tail…” All of the male body part humor made me ill. We had bathroom humor, sexual humor, homosexual humor, come on? We cannot keep lowering our standards. Please watch it again if you missed any of this. I am not judging or being mean-spirited, all I am saying is the “G” rating was not appropriate. Middle School kids will see a theater full of adults/kids laughing at all of this. How can I ever tell my daughter again that that “stuff” isn’t funny, it has a “G” rating. LITTLE bitty kids won’t get it, I hope. Thanks!
Moral rating: Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 3
Moral rating: Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 3
Jan, age 49 (USA)
Negative—I see a lot of great comments on this movie from fellow Christians who have seen it an found the same things I did, HOWEVER, I would like to let everyone know of the EXTREMELY anti-GOD message in this movie with the use of BIBLE SCRIPTURE. During a part of the movie when “Buck” is explaining how he lost his eye he says “An eye for a tooth and a tooth for an eye or something like that, I never understood it. Whoever came up with it its a stupid saying”… Now, this is a direct misquote of god’s word, Matthew 5:38, directly from Christ himself. This movie feeds our kids ANTI-CHRIST rhetoric and downplays scripture to children who have not read the bible yet. It implants a negative attitude toward god’s wisdom and correction in our lives. …
Moral rating: Very Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 2½
Moral rating: Very Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 2½
John Davison, age 27 (USA)
Positive—This is a response to a comment made by John Davison, age 27 (USA) (above). He says: During a part of the movie when “Buck” is explaining how he lost his eye he says “An eye for a tooth and a tooth for an eye or something like that, I never understood it. Whoever came up with it its a stupid saying”… Now, this is a direct misquote of god’s word, Matthew 5:38, directly from Christ himself. This movie feeds our kids ANTI-CHRIST rhetoric and downplays scripture to children who have not read the bible yet. It implants a negative attitude toward god’s wisdom and correction in our lives. … I would like to point out that the ACTUAL quote, directly from the movie is: “It’s like the old saying, an eye for a tooth, a nose for a chin, a butt for a…well it’s an old saying but it’s not a very good one.” And it can actually be heard here: http://www.entertonement.com/clips/lxjfmbqnmd--51
Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 4
Trix, age 25 (USA)
Negative—I can’t believe the movie is PG. It’s almost violence from start to finish. My wife had to take our kids out of the movie half way through because my son (age 4) was too scared to finish watching it. They didn’t even make it past the plant eating Manny and Diego (it gets even more scary from there). Just because they are animated doesn’t mean they are directed toward kids. I should have previewed it alone, it would have saved me $22.
Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 4
Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 4
James, age 34 (USA)
Negative—My family and I watched “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” for family movie time. The ages of my children are 1, 4, 10, 12, and 15. There were several entertaining and laughable moments that were not inappropriate or offensive. But after the movie, I realized the children would have been better off not seeing it. Along with everything this Web site’s reviewer pointed out, there were more ungodly and unnatural scenes. One scene shows a shadow of Sid appearing to be pregnant. My 10 year old son commented on that. The female squirrel moved about in a sensual way to get what she wanted—the acorn. There was another scene where Deigo appeared to be “pushing,” as if to give birth. At the end, the helpful “disillusioned” weasel had a chance to become a part of a family and chose to stay with the character called Rudy who all the animals feared, which to me suggested the homosexual agenda. I wish I hadn’t rented this movie, but now the images have been seen, and my job now is to educate my children from the biblical standpoint.
Moral rating: Very Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 3
Moral rating: Very Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 3
Frances, age 35 (USA)
Comments from young people
Positive—This movie was extremely funny and cute! My dad and two brothers (ages 7 and 9 years) thoroughly enjoyed it and laughed throughout the film. To me, it was the best Ice Age movie yet. Yes, there was some rude humor… But that went over many heads and did not spoil the entire movie. This Ice Age is a “Must Go!”
Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 5
Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 5
Emily, age 11 (USA)
Neutral—The “Ice Age” series of movies seems to have a Shrek-style humor slightly dumbed down. There is so much clique and non-originality that it was boring to watch. The 3-D was nice but what’s the point of 3-D if the movie your watching isn’t good? I didn’t like certain parts like when “Sid” tries to milk a Yak which turns out to be male. I also don’t like the obvious pro-gay message when “Sid” keeps wanting to be a mother and he ultimately steals dino eggs to get what he wants. I also don’t like that later when the baby dinos meet their mother, “Sid” and the mother dino have kind of a inter-species, non-marriage, and kinda same-sex relationship (Sid’s a male, but he keeps referring to himself as a “mother” along with the real mother dino). Overall, I thought the little Scrat scenes were ridiculous and completely copied from other movies. It ends up that he and his lover end up separating because of Scrat’s lust for his acorn. Final word: A completely ridiculous movie of complete nonsense and non-originality.
Moral rating: Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 5
Moral rating: Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 5
Garrett T, age 15 (USA)
Negative—this movie was extremely stupid… I would advise anyone that enjoyed the first two not to go to this one… I did not laugh once through the whole movie. I would encourage anyone that wants to see a good movie spend your money on “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” that is a good movie unlike “Ice Age 3.”
Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: ½
Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: ½
Matt, age 15 (USA)
Positive—This movie is just like the other two, funny, a little action, plenty of adventure, but there’s just a couple of offensive things in it, but overall Its a great, heart warming movie, for every one to see!
Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 5
Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 5
Jefferson, age 13 (USA)
Neutral—In general, “Ice Age” 3 really isn’t much more than a run-of-the-mill sequel. It isn’t bad, but it isn’t great either; it’s just the team that made the first two movies squeezing out the last couple of good ideas they had for the franchise and dragging them to a full-length movie. In keeping with what seems to be the sequel tradition these days, this film has way too many characters, and most of them get their own “story arc,” if you can call it that. It leads to some characters who are supposed to be important doing almost nothing for the entire movie—case in point, Diego, who’s about as important and serves the same basic role as the Rebel soldiers who follow Luke Skywalker around. He’s just there, and for all his subplot about wanting to leave the herd actually came to, it’s a wonder it was in there at all. The other characters aren’t much better. I found that, while Ray Romano still has great timing and delivery in his performance as Manny (as in most of his work, really), he doesn’t get to do much.
A lot of the jokes fall short, though thankfully, they weren’t awkward or drawn-out like in another recent sequel, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. There were even a few funny moments (juvenile as it was, the helium scene had me laughing myself silly). But it just didn’t really cover for it. The biggest mistake with a character, though, was Scrat—he wasn’t funny, and that just shouldn’t be. Instead, he gets this goofy, just plain weird subplot with Scratte, a female… well, whatever Scrat is. And it isn’t funny, just pointless. And that’s a shame, because despite his lack of importance, Scrat has always been the appeal of the “Ice Age” films. “Ice Age: The Meltdown” probably wouldn’t have been worth seeing at all if not for Scrat’s little Looney Tunes-style shorts. Even the first Ice Age, which I think is the all-around best made of the films, would’ve suffered greatly without Scrat. But here, he just can’t carry the weight.
The movie’s plot isn’t all that great either. It’s unstructured, and basically follows a plan of “here’s point A, we need to get to point B, okay, go.” The end of the movie just sort of happens instead of building up to some sort of climax. But I gave the film quality a 3 out of 5. You might be wondering why that is, since it has to mean I liked it a little. The film’s redeeming factor is the new character, Buck, who just might be the best cinematic creation since Jack Sparrow. He’s just that awesome.
CONTENT No offense, but this review seems to me to be an overreaction. I’m not even sure how half the items on the list of offenses in the review could even be construed as offensive… Yes, there is some very mild innuendo here and there, but it’s neither as explicit or drawn out as the review makes it seem to be. Your kids will not know anything more or less about sex coming out of this movie. My sole concern would be moments like the “That’s it’s tail” thing, if only because the little boys in your family are likely to find that hilarious and be quoting it all over the place.
But honestly, while it’s no Pixar, it really doesn’t do anything that would fall outside a PG rating and is generally pretty family safe, perhaps even more so than the previous outing, “Ice Age: The Meltdown.”
Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 3
A lot of the jokes fall short, though thankfully, they weren’t awkward or drawn-out like in another recent sequel, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. There were even a few funny moments (juvenile as it was, the helium scene had me laughing myself silly). But it just didn’t really cover for it. The biggest mistake with a character, though, was Scrat—he wasn’t funny, and that just shouldn’t be. Instead, he gets this goofy, just plain weird subplot with Scratte, a female… well, whatever Scrat is. And it isn’t funny, just pointless. And that’s a shame, because despite his lack of importance, Scrat has always been the appeal of the “Ice Age” films. “Ice Age: The Meltdown” probably wouldn’t have been worth seeing at all if not for Scrat’s little Looney Tunes-style shorts. Even the first Ice Age, which I think is the all-around best made of the films, would’ve suffered greatly without Scrat. But here, he just can’t carry the weight.
The movie’s plot isn’t all that great either. It’s unstructured, and basically follows a plan of “here’s point A, we need to get to point B, okay, go.” The end of the movie just sort of happens instead of building up to some sort of climax. But I gave the film quality a 3 out of 5. You might be wondering why that is, since it has to mean I liked it a little. The film’s redeeming factor is the new character, Buck, who just might be the best cinematic creation since Jack Sparrow. He’s just that awesome.
CONTENT No offense, but this review seems to me to be an overreaction. I’m not even sure how half the items on the list of offenses in the review could even be construed as offensive… Yes, there is some very mild innuendo here and there, but it’s neither as explicit or drawn out as the review makes it seem to be. Your kids will not know anything more or less about sex coming out of this movie. My sole concern would be moments like the “That’s it’s tail” thing, if only because the little boys in your family are likely to find that hilarious and be quoting it all over the place.
But honestly, while it’s no Pixar, it really doesn’t do anything that would fall outside a PG rating and is generally pretty family safe, perhaps even more so than the previous outing, “Ice Age: The Meltdown.”
Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 3
Matthew Triponey, age 17 (USA)
Positive—The movie was very good. Sure it could have left out some stuff, but it was a very good comedy movie. I recommend it as a good family movie.
Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 4½
Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 4½
Luke, age 11 (USA)
Positive—I have been looking forward to seeing this movie since I saw the first trailer, and I really enjoyed it. I own the first one but thought that the second had a bit to much “grown up” humor to own, but this is definitely one I’ll be getting on DVD. It was much funnier than the other two, with almost all the laughs coming from Buck the weasel which I think is the funniest character in the “Ice Age” series. Of course, it did have some “wink wink” humor, but I didn’t find it nearly as offensive as in the second one. I thought the action was very exciting and the animation was awesome but it could scare some children, but since most kids these days watch movies like Lord of the rings they’ll probably be able to handle it. Overall, if you liked the first two, or even just the first one, you’ll most likely enjoy it.
Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 5
Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 5
Wyatt, age 15 (USA)
Positive—I have been looking forward to seeing this movie since I saw the first trailer, and I really enjoyed it. I own the first one but thought that the second had a bit to much “grown up” humor to own, but this is definitely one I’ll be getting on DVD. It was much funnier than the other two, with almost all the laughs coming from Buck the weasel which I think is the funniest character in the Ice Age series. Of course, it did have some “wink wink” humor, but I didn’t find it nearly as offensive as in the second one. I thought the action was very exciting and the animation was awesome but it could scare some children, but since most kids these days watch movies like Lord of the rings they’ll probably be able to handle it. Overall, if you liked the first two, or even just the first one, you’ll most likely enjoy it.
Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 5
Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 5
Wyatt, age 15 (USA)
Positive—I thought this movie was hilarious, definitely the most funny of the three “Ice Age” movies. And I was very glad that the offensive content was much less than the second one, although I would warn families about one part that I’m surprised none of the reviews I’ve read said anything about, (although it is very fast—maybe they just didn’t catch it) where in the middle of an action scene where one of the possums rips away a bunch of grapes to throw at an enemy dinosaur, and behind it you see Scrat and Scratte looking startled like they’ve been interrupted having s-x! I think that part was totally inappropriate and uncalled for, but other than that I thought it was very funny and exciting.
Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 4½
Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 4½
Katie, age 16 (USA)
Positive—I saw this movie with my camp and my dad and my friend Alyssa. I thought the movie was really good. I especially liked the part where some of the characters had funny voices and were laughing a lot; also, the parts with Buck the weasel really made me laugh. The parts with Sid were funny too, but he seemed to get picked on a lot. At the beginning Manny (Ray Romano) and Ellie (Queen Latifah) were mad at Sid (John Leguizamo), but by the end they were nice to him and were sorry that they mistreated him. I think that other children around my age would really like this movie. Adults and teenagers will probably like it too, because it is funny.
Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 5
Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 5
Justin Sonsini, age 7 (USA)
Positive—The film is great for all the family. Especially the 3-D version.
Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 4½
Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 4½
Steven, age 11 (England)
Positive—This movie is very entertaining. I liked how the new characters fit in to the movie. I think there is nothing offensive to us as christians. It is good for most ages. Most of the dinosaurs were a bit scary for young children. I thought the animation was pretty good. It was pretty realistic at some parts and very cartoony at others. But, overall, this movie was very good.
Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 4½
Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 4½
Alex P., age 11 (USA)
Positive—When I entered the theater to watch the third insatallment of the cheesy Ice Age saga, I was expecting a corny, children’s animated feature. I was pleseantly suprised to find a comedy worth my time which was both witty, and lacking in offensive content. And although I am not usually a supporter of non-Pixar animated films, Dawn of the Dinosaurs suprises as one of the best animated films of the year.
Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 3
Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 3
Austin, age 15 (USA)
Positive—“Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” was overall good. It had some bad words and some scary scenes. If you consider letting a child under 10 watching this movie, you should check and go through the whole movie or maybe distract them during these scenes. How ever most of this movie is good and there is no teaching of millions of years or evolution. Most of the humor is quite clean. My favorite parts in the movie are when the Guanlong (Gew-on-long) pack attacks and the face off, mommy T.rex vs Rudy (possibly a Baryonx). Don’t forget the scenes with the baby rex. They are so cute!
Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 5
Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 5
Ryan, age 12 (USA)
Positive—Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs is a great movie. It was quite funny, and there was never a moment of boredom. However, there were quite a few moments of “bad language”. But don’t worry to much about these parts, they can easily be skipped. I recommend this movie for the 12-112 age group range. I also recommend that parents of young children might want to preview the movie, first, to know which parts to skip. There was also one part in the movie that might not be appropriate for some children: Sid accidentally gets sucked into the mamma T. Rex’s nostril, and he says “nice mucus! And I don’t say that to everyone.”Unlike almost all other movies featuring dinosaurs, there was no Evolution I could find. Other than a few bad parts, the movie was great, filled with action and a great movie for the family to go see (although I’d rather wait to look at this movie until it comes out on DVD, so you can skips parts).
Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 5
Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 5
Christian, age 14 (USA)
Comments from non-viewers
My husband and I saw a preview for this film at the theater. We were completely shocked to hear the last “joke” in the preview. Sid thought he was milking a female ox, but it turned out to be a male. Here’s a quote from the parental advisory at IMDB: When the three baby T-rex’s are crying, Sid tries to get milk from a sleeping Ox. However, it’s male and Sid is chased yelling “I thought you were a female.” Out of camera shot, he pulls the Ox’s %#&*@. We only see the Ox waking up with a disgruntled face and chasing Sid. That is disgusting, and based on that little sample from the movie, which is probably indicative of the rest of it, we certainly won’t be seeing the third Ice Age, and will warn people we know to stay away, if they take their faith seriously.
Alex, age 30 (USA)
I saw the preview for this movie while seeing Up. Just from that preview, I knew I would not take my kids to see it. The one scene that they showed in the preview was when the squirrel has the acorn on his chest and the female squirrel “walks” her two fingers to the top of the acorn. Her fingers are made to look like long show girl type legs including buttocks. Her fingers have fingernails too which make it look like high heels. It is made to look very seductive. Then she rips the acorn off of his chest along with a patch of his chest hair where the acorn was. This whole seduction then intense pain scene is so sickening when you think about it.
Children do not need to see this junk. I am very careful with screening lustful images from the content of what my children watch and as a result there are just not too many movies that prove worthy of allowing your children’s minds to be engaged with. I will not support in any way these types of movies. I wish more people would show their disapproval by not going to offensive movies. ChristianAnswers.Net has been a great help to me in steering away from such movies.
Children do not need to see this junk. I am very careful with screening lustful images from the content of what my children watch and as a result there are just not too many movies that prove worthy of allowing your children’s minds to be engaged with. I will not support in any way these types of movies. I wish more people would show their disapproval by not going to offensive movies. ChristianAnswers.Net has been a great help to me in steering away from such movies.
Renee, age 42 (Canada)
My Ratings: Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 5