Movie Review - Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

We had saved up some money & decided to take the munchkins to a movie last weekend while my mom watched The Saint. This was the first time we'd all gone to a movie as a family & we were all looking forward to it.

Our movie of choice was Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. We didn't see it in 3D because we thought it might be a bit too much for the munchkins in the theater (especially The Princess who's going through a shy/scared phase right now.) I really liked the first two, but this one was disappointing to me.

The storyline wasn't bad, although not quite historically correct. The mismatched herd that formed in the first two movies is anxiously awaiting the birth of Manny & Ellie the mammoths' baby. Diego, the sabertooth tiger, feels it's time to move on & Sid, the sloth, has desires to have his own family. He finds three dinosaur eggs & cares for them until they hatch. Once they do, he takes on the roll of "mommy" to them. Meanwhile, the momma dinosaur is on the hunt for her missing children. Once she find them, she carries them off, along w/ Sid. The mismatched herd sets off to rescue Sid & in the process, finds a lost dinosaur world beneath the ice.

So, why didn't I like it?
1) It was full of cliches. I know a few are needed in movies like this, but there were just way too many. Casinodad brought up the fact that they were probably relying on the 3D effects to carry the movie, so they didn't put much effort into the conversations & such.

2) There were several gender related comments made by the characters that I felt were just not appropriate at all. The comments went over the munchkins' heads, but not Casinodad's & mine. Looking back on numerous movies I watched as a child, I realize they had adult-related references that went over my head. But as an adult now, I question why producers have to do that.

There were some good examples of working together to save friends/family & taking care of each other, but overall I found the movie lacking in taste, quality, & originality. Thankfully we went to a matinee at one of the cheaper theaters in town & only paid $4.50 each.