Most, that is, except for a select few. One, Manfred the woolly mammoth (Ray Romano), is all too happy for some peace and quiet. Until he runs into Sid the sloth (John Leguizamo) who overslept and missed the migration yet again.
While escaping two rhinos, they run into sabre-toothed tiger Diego (Denis Leary), who is on the hunt for a human baby, in order to take it back to his pride who are seeking revenge against the baby’s family for slaughtering a number of them for meat and fur.
As luck would have it, Manny and Sid have found the baby, and are trying to get it back to its family. Together, the three of them venture out, albeit with different ends in mind.
I won’t say anything else about the plot, I’ll leave that for you to experience; this really is a fun film, and I wouldn’t want to take anything away from your enjoyment and discovery.
The first thing I want to say about this film is the music. As with a lot of animated movies, there is a lot more scoring to this film than you would generally find in any live-action film. Which of course means a lot more music is required; a lot more composing needs to be done. And composer David Newman has met this challenge head-on, and in my view, has succeeded exceptionally well. The music is just right in every scene, highlighting not only the action on screen, but the internal and psychological struggles of the characters.
Speaking of the characters, the casting of this film is also truly inspired. The three leads have incredible chemistry on screen, which is no easy feat in an animated film. Consider for a moment the fact that, as with almost all animated films, the cast are recording their lines individually in a recording booth, oftentimes never encountering their co-stars until it is time to promote the film. So the fact that these three work together so well is first of all a testament to the casting team.
But it is also a testament to the abilities of each respective performer, in that they are able to convey so much with only their voice. We don’t see their expressions, we don’t see their body language (not that it’s easy for me to read these cues anyway!), and they don’t have each other to react to. Their delivery of their lines is so accurate and realistic, it is easy to forget that they are not recording their parts at the same time.
This is also a display of the skill of the directorial team. Chris Wedge and Carlos Saldanha in this instance have also done their jobs exceptionally well. Being able to draw out the necessary performances from all the cast, as well as oversee the entire process of all departments, is not an easy task. The two of them have pulled out all the stops here, and given us a truly enjoyable piece of cinema, that will delight not only children, but audiences of all ages (I love animated films like this that have plenty for the grown-ups to enjoy too!, great work by the scriptwriters Michael Berg, Michael J. Wilson and Peter Ackerman achieve this).
A great film that has been followed by several sequels (stay tuned for reviews of these coming up later in the year) that in some cases, even surpass this the original.
7 out of 10.
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