Member review

This is Blue Sky's first sequel and its not directed by Chris Wedge this time he's the executive producer instead it's directed by Carlos Saldanha who is the same director of Rio and Ferdinand. This movie is more successful then the first having 667 million at the box office to the 80 million budget but received mediocre reviews by critics. So without a further-a-do lets see if it is mediocre:

Animation: My god the animation is an improvement then the first!; Its has a lot more camera shots and it gives more creative freedom to the animators. They definitely push their limits when the flood came in. Its like Robots (A Blue Sky movie that came before this)

Concept: I like having the idea of ice melting down considering this is the ice age and I think it fits well as an terrible term of event aesthetic

I also notice there are a lot more pre-historic animal designs then the first and I like that it feels more inclusive to other animals instead of having the same boring animals.

Set design: I like the set design here and I like it represented as a swimming pool and I love the outside is just an ocean.

The score: The score of the movie is amazing like they are trying to sound cinematic and grounded. It gets reused the later Ice Age movies for some reason. Nothing else I had to say about it.

Plot/writing: I'm more talking about the writing of the plot because its very different from Chris Wedge's writing by how chaotic it is. Like when Simba I MEAN Sid-ba is prised by sloths as the fire king and then get throw off to the lava pit which is so absurd in fact in my opinion the second act is the most absurd act , like when the vulture sings glorious food from Oliver by hey at least it's not a pop song a lot of animated movies in the 2000s and even today standards. I like the idea of having the entire place as a bow which fills up with water and it only takes 3 days to get to the boat which the vulture. The gimmick of the movie is the water flood and I think they did good job of feel how intense and serious. Its the thing that you got to remember because its important and feels more dangerous because of those fish Dinosaur enemies (which by the way the first one where Sid saw the scary fish and says "You know what I could go for? Global warming" which predicts this entire movie and Manny mention the Dinosaurs, huh wonder if that's going to be the next movie but enough of foreshadowing.)

Comedy: The comedy is pretty funny at times and I also notice it has more edge (Has more edge as the movies go on) to it like when Manny talking to Ellie suggest to do the job to save the mammoths (if you get what I meant by that) which ended Ellie gets angry and Crash called Manny a perv**t. I forgot he says that but you know what THIS IS THE GREATEST MOVIE OF OUR TIME! not really for real. But it dose have some doo jokes and the movie acknowledge that. Which is not good. The one scene Scrat tries to get the acorn by using a stick is the only Scrat moment I didn't find it funny.

Characters:

Scrat again: In the first movie he doesn't do anything and feels more like a character made for gags but here Scrat causes the chaos of Ice Age I mean he get a lot more screen time and he is work into the concept of the movie. In fact he dies in the movie to unintentionally save everyone , go to heaven , gets revive by Sid , actually loss his acorn , that's the straw for Scrat and beats up Sid with karate. Its so absurd but its comedically good and that's just the writing of the movie.

Manny: I like that they keep the idea of Manny's backstory in mind and add the idea having to be the last mammoth and I think his and Ellie's conflict is at times feels more like a siblings relationship then a romance story if you ask me.

Ellie: I kind of like Ellie because I like the idea having one that is energic and Manny is the grumpy one like most movies the dude characters are the crazy ones while the girl characters are the quiet ones which is overdone too many times. I also like her design. They tried to do the backstory of her which she got lost and found her new family like its fine but it lacks the heart and emotion to it like Jessie from Toy Story 2 works so well its because how her relationship with her owner over the years and adds the idea to rethink her existents with so much great heart to it but here it feels like they had to do it because its just sad like its subtle but it doesn't add to Ellie much , it's such a mis opportunity they should have included Ellie's backstory to contrast Manny's backstory.

Diego: I know I know about the contradiction of Diego's character like I get it, its very random and doesn't need to have that but I kind of like it because in the first he has more of a redemption arc then a character flaw but here they give him a flaw and I like that Sid is trying to teach Diego to swim despite Diego just thinking its nonsense because how idiotic Sid is. "I'm surrounded by idiots". I do like that Diego always having the best suggestions for situation then Manny.

Sid: Sid the sloth is a lot more insane then the first like he literally tried to commit suicide for some reason. This scene were Sid try's to save Crash and Eddy and causes more problems.

Crash and Eddy are fine: I know why some people find them annoying I mean they don't add anything important to the plot but I like that aren't selfish animals like they cared for Ellie and even they tried saved Sid.

The dinosaur(ish) fish are okay: Honestly, its better then the previous villain because in my Ice Age review I forgot to mention that the villain is pretty generic because his motives to bring the baby alive and that's it. Here I would argue they are better villains then the first because I like their design and introduce early in the movie. I also like you are not going to know what happen next but they do feel like obstacles then a villain with personality.

Final thoughts: So that was Ice Age 2 its an decent sequel and has a lot more chaos to it. I honestly don't think its a bad movie and its also not an amazing sequel either but like it but has it flaws holding back from being good. (Hot Take coming in!) I would dare to say its better then the first like lets think about it for a moment the first one does has heart to it and has a beautiful 2D animation scene but the biggest disappointment to me is that Diego dies but then he wasn't just felt cliché' and paper thin way to surprised the audience but this movie doesn't have a cliché moment , has better looking animation and a more memorable villain. The first Ice Age movie does feel like Shrek at times having celebrate voice actors and the funny side character. Overall this movie is decent ,has fine characters , an decent story , good animation , decent comedy and best of all when the time Family Guy promotes Ice Age 2 and Sid said " It seems today all you see is violence and movies and s*x on TV. But where are those good old fashion values we use to relied , lucky it's a Family Guy and it's coming up next." I didn't made that up that's an actual promotion which you can find on YouTube. Would I recommend it? Yeah sure I would but I think the first is more fun then this but its fine. That's everything I got to say!