I was very skeptical about watching this at first. Usually, animated movies rarely ever keep me entertained, but this one certainly surprised me. I was in tears laughing as I watched these great characters go on a wacky mission to take this baby home. The banter between the three is top notch as they all give great dialogue along with excellent character depth. At one point, the threesome must take on a herd of karate fighting Dodo birds as they try to get the baby a melon to eat. In a sequence that had me practically falling to the floor laughing, the movie spoofs sports flicks as Sid must tackle Dodo’s in his path in slow-motion. I don’t want to give a lot away, but suffice to say, I could barely stop laughing.
Unfortunately, the movie does tend to suffer from the usual animated set backs. The backdrop to this film feels too bland at times which made it hard to get involved in the movie and was very distracting. In the movie, during the ice age when many creatures migrate to the south, we meet Sid, the dimwitted dumb Sloth (voiced by John Leguizamo) who was abandoned by his family and he accidentally clashes with a large Wooly Mammoth named Manny (Ray Romano) and the two head their own path from the migration. The twosome accidentally stumbles upon a small baby boy who was parted from his family after the mother was attacked by a pack of Saber-toothed Tigers. They meet up with a lone Saber-toothed named Diego (Denis Leary) who helps the two tracks the parents, but his intentions are less than humble. Now the odd threesome, led by Manny, must trek through snow, avalanches and Volcanoes to return the kid home.
Though this focuses on the three main characters, the villains seemed to one-dimensional with very little to do in certain parts of the movie. I never felt threatened by them like I did in a lot of other animated adventures. The characters are lovable, the cast is first rate and the animation is amazing. But, warning to parents: There is some suggestive violence in this movie like a saber-toothed getting impaled (though you never see it). For a low brow often funny animated comedy, it really works. With great acting, a great cast, and a simple but exciting story, I was pleased and pleasantly surprised. This is a charmer full of laughs, and great characters, and humor that will be both accessible to parents and children.