(The Disneycember logo is shown, before showing clips from Ice Age: The Meltdown)
Doug (vo): It's funny. When I went to review the next Ice Age movie, I was thinking to myself, "Man, they really should number them", because I wasn't sure which one was next, like, "We need an Ice Age 2, Ice Age 3." But then, when I actually looked at the titles, it is an order. #2 is The Meltdown, #3 is Dawn of the Dinosaurs... (A caption is shown saying, "Okay, 'RETURN of the Dinosaurs' would be better") ...#4 is Continental Drift, #5 is Collision Course. Actually, they do clearly spell out the order if you just kind of use a little deduction. With that said, Ice Age: The Meltdown is the second one, and compared to the first one, it is definitely better. Is it great? Well, let's not say things we can't take back, but...it definitely entertained me more than the first one.
Story[]
Doug (vo): The setup this time honestly doesn't sound that exciting, but they kind of make the most of it. We start off with that groundhog thing trying to get an acorn again, and one of the things I liked about these little slapstick openings is that it does kind of show where we are in terms of time. This one, he's trying to get the acorn in the ice, but a bunch of water starts leaking, and he has to kind of slide down these little ice slides, and, yeah, you put it together that the ice is melting. Eventually, the other animals figure that out as well and realize they need to get out, because, well, they're essentially in a giant valley or an ice bowl, if you will, that's about to fill with water. While journeying through the valley for a way out, kind of like a semi-funny Land Before Time, Manny the mammoth, played again by Ray Romano, finds he's not the last of his kind as he discovers another mammoth named Ellie, played by Queen Latifah. The only problem is, she doesn't know she's a mammoth, she thinks she's a possum. In fact, throughout a good chunk of the film, she does things that possums do, and you would think that would get pretty old pretty fast, but because there's some good acting and good writing, it actually is pretty funny.
Review[]
Doug (vo): And truth be told, there's not a ton of other story, the more I think about it. Don't get me wrong, there are little subplots, like the sabre-toothed tiger doesn't know how to swim, so he has to confront that. The sloth has a really quick, very random subplot about being a fire god that needs to be sacrificed. I don't even think it comes into the movie until the last third. And we randomly keep cutting back to that squirrel-chuck trying to get the acorn, even though it has no bearing on the story whatsoever. So I will say, this definitely sounds like a forced sequel, like nobody really had a passion to want to make this movie, or at the very least write it, but obviously, the first one made money, so this is the best they could come up with. And honestly, for what does sound like a forced sequel, it's not that bad.
(Several clips focusing on Sid the Sloth are shown)
Doug (vo): John Leguizamo's voice is a lot more tolerable this time around. He tones down the lisp a lot more, and, yes, there's nothing wrong with a character that has a speech impediment. Some of my favorite characters have speech impediments. (An image of Daffy Duck is shown) But the way he did it just got on my nerves, and in this movie, I feel like it balances out a lot better.
(Several clips focusing on Ellie the Mammoth are shown)
Doug (vo): There's some things you know are coming but are done in a way that is refreshing. For example, you know that Ellie has to figure out she's not a possum at some point, and the way she figures it out, and especially the timing she figures it out, does leave for a lot more possibilities. I mean, right, you think you know what's gonna happen. She's gonna figure it out somewhere near the last third, and it's gonna be traumatizing and she isn't gonna know how to feel about it. But, no. It's figured out about at the halfway point, and she deals with it fine. It's done through a dramatic moment, but after that, she kind of sees it as a fun, little quirk. "Oh, okay. I'm a mammoth. Neat. Now what?" I really like that, and I think her and Manny actually have pretty good chemistry in this.
(Various clips resume showing)
Doug (vo): The jokes are also a lot better. Again, you do feel like they were really searching for material, like, how much is there really to talk about in the ice age, but they do a decent enough job, and if a joke doesn't land, it doesn't hurt. I feel like the dialogue is a lot snappier and a lot faster, that if one doesn't land, they just move on to the next one. I also give credit that as of now, these movies don't really have a villain. They have predators, they have obstacles, but there's no one main bad guy. I think that's another thing that makes the conflicts in this not quite as predictable. The animation, as you can plainly see, is also a lot better. Okay, it's not like a visual wonderland, like something I'd see in Coco or something, but even with the same kind of primitive designs, they really do upgrade the textures a lot more. It doesn't look fantastic or anything, but it doesn't look like a direct-to-DVD movie anymore. With that said, I can't act like this is anything great either. It is another film where it just kind of appears, does its job, and then disappears. I don't really think that much about it after I've seen it. But once again, I don't think it's supposed to be that kind of film. I will say with the first one, there was a little bit more drama, and maybe that was a little heavier than the drama in this. But the serious moments aren't bad, they're just glanced over a little bit more to make room for the comedy, which, like I said, is better. I will give credit it's not a "here we go again" story. They don't discover another human and have to get him back to his tribe, there's not even any humans in this. They do try to do something a little different and tell a different story, and it's not bad. I just don't see it as anything that great either.
Final thought[]
Doug (vo): Again, it's a movie I wouldn't really seek out to watch, but, if for some reason, you have to, like you have kids or, like me, you have to review it, it's not unpleasant to sit through. It's serviceable, and definitely in more ways than the last one. I think the slapstick, the writing, and the acting all have just enough charm to say, "Okay, that was not that bad a way to waste an hour and a half." But I can definitely think of more entertaining ways to waste it. I guess it's not a glowing review, but I can't say it's a negative review either. It just is what it is. It's Ice Age 2. It exists, it's not bad, but it's not groundbreaking either...in a series literally about breaking ground. I guess you could say it evolved from an "eh" to a "ah-eh." Who knows? Maybe the next one will have me giving it an "Ehh." What do you want? It's a franchise about the ice age. I'm gonna review it in caveman grunts. I don't know. See you in the next "eh" adventure, I guess.
(One of the film's final scenes, showing the herd walking off into the sunset, is shown)