Ice Age 3: Dawn of the

Dinosaurs

Genre: Animation

Director: Carlos Saldanha

Starring: Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Simon Pegg, Queen Latifah, Seann William and Josh Peck

Showing at Kumari

KATHMANDU:After winning hearts with their two previous franchises of Ice Age, they are back with yet another fun ride. After three years of anticipation we are again on a journey through times, admiring the beauty of nature and laughing along with the hilarious characters. In Ice age 2: The Meltdown (2006), we saw how Manny (Ray Romano) fell in love with feisty Ellie (Queen Latifah) and how her two brothers Crash (Seann Willaim Scott) and Eddie (Josh Peck) joined 'the herd' which already consists of aloof yet soft hearted sabre-tooth tiger, Diego (Denish Leary) and crazy and cowardly sloth, Sid (John Leguizamo). This time it is all about family and how they walk through the land of dangers to be together.

Manny and Ellie are starting a family and Manny is getting all worked up planning for the child. He gets so caught up with the daddy business that he does not notice the insecurities his friends are having over the new baby-obsessive Manny and the way their life has stagnated. While Diego decides to go alone and live the ultimate bachelor life, Sid gets all confused and left out. In his search of his own herd, he comes across three deserted eggs. He scratches some funny faces on it and carries them along with him where ever he goes. Even when Manny and Ellie request him to take those back to where they belong so that the mother won't fret, he continues to nurture it. In the end the eggs hatch and out come three tremendously cute dinosaurs who actually think that Sid is their mum. And guess what? The real mummy follows and along with her babies she takes Sid to her home. Soon Manny, heavily pregnant Ellie, Diego, Crash and Eddie go in search of their friend and the trail leads them to the untouched land of dinosaurs. While they don't know how to survive in this land of dangers, they are led to the destination by a crazy yet utterly funny one-eyed weasel Buck (Simon Pegg) who knows the tricks of survival in Dino-Land.

The movie is just perfect as a summer treat for children and the family as a whole. The story cleverly shows the importance of family and how friends need to stick together through thick and thin. The best part of the movie of course is the way the characters are presented. The humour and quips are intact throughout. The irritating yet hilarious acorn-obsessed squirrel Scrat continues with his chase for the acorn but this time he has to fight with a pretty little squirrel and their chase turns into a funny love story.

The graphic work is at its pinnacle presenting both the ice covered world and tropical world of dinosaurs to perfection. The movement and expressions of the characters seem very real that you wouldn't mind picking the little ones up and hugging them.

The story line does not seem to be as strong as the last two franchises

but as long as the movie entertains you and makes you laugh, there is nothing to lose.

All in all, a must-watch with the whole family.