There's not much to Ice Age: The Meltdown, but it's enjoyable all the same.
Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:140
Fresh:80
Rotten:60
Average Rating:6.1/10
Consensus: Impressive animation carries this sequel, as the story is not up to par. Kids will surely enjoy it, but most everyone else will wish to see more of the mute ice squirrel and less of the main characters.
Runtime: 90 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
US Box Office: $195,251,850
Synopsis: In ICE AGE: THE MELTDOWN, the sub-zero heroes from the worldwide blockbuster CGI film "Ice Age" are back – Manny the woolly mammoth, Sid the sloth, Diego the saber-toothed tiger, and the hapless... In ICE AGE: THE MELTDOWN, the sub-zero heroes from the worldwide blockbuster CGI film "Ice Age" are back – Manny the woolly mammoth, Sid the sloth, Diego the saber-toothed tiger, and the hapless prehistoric squirrel/rat known as Scrat. In the new film, from director Carlos Saldanha and the Academy Award® winning creators of "Ice Age" and "Robots," the Ice Age is coming to an end, and the animals are delighting in the melting paradise that is their new world. Ray Romano, John Leguizamo and Denis Leary return to voice our three heroes: Manny, Sid, and Diego. New cast members include Academy Award® nominee Queen Latifah ("Chicago"), Seann William Scott (the "American Pie" trilogy), late night talk show king Jay Leno, Will Arnett ("Arrested Development") and Josh Peck ("Drake and Josh"). Our trio is still together and enjoying the perks of their now melting world. Manny may be ready to start a family, but nobody has seen another mammoth for a long time; Manny thinks he may be the last one. That is, until he miraculously finds Ellie (voiced by Queen Latifah), the only female mammoth left in the world. Their only problems: They can't stand each other – and Ellie somehow thinks she's a possum! Ellie comes with some excess baggage in the form of her two possum "brothers"...Crash and Eddie (voiced by Seann William Scott and Josh Peck), a couple of daredevil pranksters and cocky, loud-mouthed troublemakers. Manny, Sid, and Diego quickly learn that the warming climate has one major drawback: A huge glacial dam holding off oceans of water is about to break, threatening the entire valley. The only chance of survival lies at the other end of the valley. So our three heroes, along with Ellie, Crash and Eddie, form the most unlikely family – in any "Age" – as they embark on a mission across an ever-changing, increasingly dangerous landscape towards their salvation. The film also presents the continuing adventures, or misadventures, of Scrat, who has an even larger role this time. ICE AGE: THE MELTDOWN has everything you loved about the first movie with even more comedy, action, and spectacular visuals. Our three heroes' unyielding friendship lives on with some memorable new characters thrown into the mix. The result will thaw hearts of all ages. -- © 20th Century Fox [More]
Starring: Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Drea de Matteo
Starring: Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Drea de Matteo, Queen Latifah, Seann William Scott, Josh Peck, Will Arnett, Stephen Root, Alan Tudyk
Screenwriter: Peter Gaulke, Gerry Swallow
Producer: Lori Forte
Composer: John Powell
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Reviews for Ice Age: The Meltdown
Parents forced by unruly ankle-biters to spend an afternoon at the multiplex could do worse than Ice Age: The Meltdown (Valiant, anyone?). But if kids could be persuaded to wait a few months for the DVD, it wouldn’t be the end of the world.
It might not be a classic for the eons, but Ice Age: The Meltdown is so delightfully fun, funny and action-packed that it's hard to find cracks in its slick surface.
Ice Age: The Meltdown crosses familiar territory but does so with exceeding sweetness and no shortage of visual imagination, bolstering what is, in essence, a fairly simplistic road movie with an eco-conscious twist.
While this film has neither the insight or intellect of better Pixar films, it does have enough funny gags to keep the kids entertained and their parents from being bored.
The sequel to Ice Age is very much like the original: witty and imaginative at times, dull and predictable at others.
There's something disheartening about the way the writers and director have to give so much of the dialogue double meaning, all literal for the kiddies and full of double-entendres and pop culture references for the parents.
Where the first Ice Age was low-key, this one is more frantic. And this time around the material is cruder, more lowbrow than it needs to be.
The movie is right on par with the 2002 original: brisk, pleasant and loaded with slapstick that should keep young children giggling.
If the rest of Meltdown is a three-star movie, Scrat brings four stars every time. Perhaps by the next sequel, they'll dispense with the filler and give Scrat his own movie.
Even though the animation sparkles, the screenplay is dull and in desperate need of some punching up.
A sequel with more humor, topicality, intelligence and appeal [than the original].
Ice Age: The Meltdown is pure sequel product that should make children and undemanding grown-ups happy even as it lacks anything resembling storytelling inspiration.
Scrat's antics rank with Chuck Jones' old Road Runner vs. Coyote cartoons for pure laughs.
As in the first Ice Age, the predictable main story and the not-funny-enough script is a waste of some well-executed performances.
In evolution, some things worked, some didn't (hooves and horns, good; shovel-shaped jaws on elephants, bad). The humor in 'Meltdown' is similarly hit-and-miss.
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