Ageless, adorable heroes
Age gang are all back to face their biggest challenge in “Ice Age: Collision Course.”
And I do mean collision as that massive meteor that struck Central America several hundred millions of years ago that wiped out the
dinosaurs is heading straight for our crew.
And who knew that — according to “Ice Age” lore — it was really the saber tooth squirrel Scrat’s relentless pursuit of one elusive acorn that catapults him into outer space, yes flying saucer and all, and he accidentally sets off a series of cosmic events that transform and threaten the Ice Age World.
To save themselves, Sid (John Leguizamo), Manny (Ray Romano), Diego (Denis Leary) and the rest of the herd must leave their home and embark on a quest full of zany comedy and adventure, travelling to exotic new lands and encountering a host of colorful characters including Jennifer Lopez as Shira and Queen Latifah as Ellie.
Strange to think that the world of Ice Age has been around (and highly profitable, I might add) since 2002, and in these passing 14 years, our heroes have saved the Earth countless times.
Hey, it’s a cartoon. Anything can happen!
Which is why even this far-fetched Ice Age premise of not only stopping but preventing “the meteor” (or several of them) from destroying the Earth is a great time for young and old alike.
Scenes from “Ice Age: Collision Course”
Here’s the thing. The leading voice actors of Romano, Leguizamo and Leary never see each other during the production of this cartoon film.
Each of the actors spend several weeks, alone in a recording booth) reading their scripts in a non-descript studio in Los Angeles and the voices are eventually mixed together with the soon to be completed animation.
Sorry to burst anyone’s bubble but the actors only meet when they are doing worldwide publicity or the opening of the film in Hollywood, New York or Tokyo.
But, who cares?
20th Century Fox Animation Studios has a cash cow in their hands and have been milking said cow for all the pesos it’s worth. That being said, the latest Ice Age flick is a rousing good time. And you could do worse with 90 minutes of your time.
Two things in this latest Ice Age that really work are (1) the bizarre Scrat and his never ending pursuit of one acorn that has been a running calamity joke for more than a decade, and (2) the really well-written cartoon friendship between Sid, Manny and Diego. After five films, each of the disembodied voice actors play their role to a “t” and finally there is a genuine caring of the welfare of what happens to a woolly Mammoth (Romano) a saber tooth tiger (Leary) and a ground sloth “thing” that is Sid (Leguizamo) who is completely inept and utterly loveable.
Scenes from “Ice Age: Collision Course”
I doubt that Leguizamo, who once played a hit man turned zombie in George Romero’s “Land of the Dead”, would find a more lucrative and manic role sans animation.
Also stealing the movie is Simon Pegg (Star Trek) as the manic Buck, a one-eyed weasel and a dinosaur hunter.
The Ice Age characters are adorable, and as far as this writer is concerned, they can make an endless number of “Ice Age” films until my nine month old, Jeff Jr., has children of his own.
These films are not only terrify fun but allows each viewer to act out their own “Ice Age” characters.
My wife Cris will always be Shira …
And I will always be her Diego.
Questions, comments or travel suggestions, write me at theruffolos@readingruffolos.com.