ICE AGE: THE MELTDOWN

The first Ice Age, while hardly an animated classic, was likable enough. Though its animation and storyline were no match for Pixar, it had a pleasant sense of humor and some nifty imagery. What worked best were the Chuck Jones-inspired interludes with Scrat, a prehistoric acorn-obsessed squirrel.

Ice Age: The Meltdown is smart enough to recognize the appeal of pummeling the crap out of cute little critters and gives the single-minded Scrat a lot more screen time. Like the best episodes of Looney Toons, these slapstick vignettes are hilariously violent and break up the film’s otherwise tepid central story.

It’s the last days of the ice age. The community of lovable prehistoric mammals is enjoying life in a lush valley surrounded by an immense glacier. Unfortunately, Manny (voiced by Ray Romano), the wooly mammoth hero, and his pals Diego the saber-toothed tiger (Denis Leary) and Sid the giant sloth (John Leguizamo) discover that the ice is melting and an epic flood is only days away. As the animals hightail it to an Ark-like boat at the end of the valley, Manny fears he’s the last of his kind. Quicker than you can say “plot development,” he stumbles into Ellie (voiced by Queen Latifah), a female mammoth. It looks like Manny’s extinction issues are over. But not so fast. Ellie, orphaned as youngster, thinks she’s a possum.

It’s a thin premise to hang a movie on and the filmmakers work hard to keep our interest with jokes that range from the inspired –vultures singing to Oliver’s “Food, Glorious, Food”—to the insipid. Unfortunately, very little of the humor comes from the characters themselves. This is what separates a decent waste-of-time from a classic. Nothing is organic. Without a well-developed narrative, everything is in service of the almighty gag. Worse still, every time Meltdown (like its predecessor) finds some dramatic footing, it falls flat on its face with Disney-like mawkishness.

The cast is professional but bland. Leguizamo does a good job with Sid the Sloth but is given too little screen time. Ray Romano, whose sarcastic asides can be brilliant, is neutered of any personality and Queen Latifah is a big fat bore. Perhaps the film’s biggest crime is its inability to wring a single laugh out of Denis Leary. Why is Hollywood so incapable of effectively harnessing this man’s comic talents?

Fox's Blue Sky animation division has improved but still has a long way to go if it wants to compete with Dreamworks or Pixar. Meltdown’s visuals don’t look as much like a videogame as the first but remain equally cartoony. It’s not a bad choice and the studio would do well to drop the predictable kid’s film sentimentality and emulate the anarchic energy and irreverence of the Looney Toons. The episodes with Scrat are a good start.

Except for its visuals, Ice Age: Meltdown does little to improve upon the original. You’ll probably drag the tykes to it just to kill 90 minutes but it’s a good bet it won’t make it into your DVD collection. One thing can be said in the movie’s favor, however: it, unlike the Bush administration; believes in the dangers of global warming. Still, that’s no excuse for spending millions on lukewarm entertainment.