Ice Age II: The Meltdown

LINKS:
— Overview
— Cast and Crew
— Photo Pages

Synopsis: Manny, Sid and Diego return in another incredible adventure. With the Ice Age coming to an end, the animals delight in a new world of water parks, geysers and tar pits. But when Manny, Sid and Diego discover an impedning meltdown of the glacier that rims their valley, they must warn everyone in time to escape the coming deluge.

There are a lot of identity issues circulating throughout director Carlos Saldanha’s sequel; consequently, the magnitude of denial might be best measured on the Richter scale. But these issues of identity and purpose undergird the fairly cohesive storyline, with our three main characters (and a fourth newcomer) leading the evacuation from the soon-to-be-flooded valley.

Identity issue one: Manny the Mammoth (Ray Romano) insists that he is not the last of his kind, despite not having seen or heard of any other mammoths for quite some time, and that he is certainly not about to become extinct. His denial works in his favor, though, when Ellie arrives…with identity issue two.

Because Ellie (Queen Latifah), a woolly mammoth, grew up with two wacky possum brothers, Crash and Eddie, she fervently maintains that she's a possum, too. She scampers about, hangs upside down from trees and, of course, plays possum (feigning death in the face of danger). Despite all evidence to the contrary and Manny’s attempts to point out their remarkable similarities (tusks, thick fur, large rear-ends), Ellie remains delightfully and deludedly (if almost psychotically) convinced of her possumhood.

Then there’s Diego (Denis Leary) -- identity issue three. The distinctly rational saber-toothed tiger fears nothing - except water - which hasn’t been a problem in the current solid-water age. But when the meltdown begins breaking ice, Diego vainly hides his hydrophobia, despite its debilitating effect on any ability to lead the evacuation.

And finally there’s poor, pathetic Sid (John Leguizamo) -- identity issue four -- the 'lithping thloth who thinkth he’th a fine leader, beloved by hith peerth and followerth alike.' The truth is that Sid is completely ineffective— the only orders of his that are followed are those reiterated by Manny. Even so, Sid remains convinced that he's the backbone of the evacuation, the firm foundation of intelligence and practicality that will rescue the valley dwellers from annihilation.

So how do these prehistoric beasts with such steep identity issues save their world?
Like the first movie, denial must be breached. They have to admit first that Fast Tony (Jay Leno) is right about the end of the ice age and the upcoming flood. Second, they have to recognize and face their broken selves (except for Sid, who obliviously believes whatever he wants). Eventually, Ellie accepts her true identity just as Manny recognizes the potential to reverse their species' extinction with Ellie's help. And Diego, prompted by his life-coach Sid, conquers his fear of the water in time to rescue others from the breaking ice.

The valley herd is saved from the flood, and the characters are saved from themselves, but not without some well-earned laughs and (thankfully) a complete absence of politically charged comments about global warming. And when things begin to plod, watch for the excellently interspersed “shorts� of Scrat the saber-toothed squirrel and his never-ending quest to grab that last acorn and prepare to laugh.

CONTINUE:
— Overview
— Cast and Crew
— Photo Pages