Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs Review

Michael here. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs is a humongous start for Fox's 3D efforts.

The best of the three Ice Age movies, "Dawn of the Dinosaurs" is not only action-packed and funny, but is a very well-told story. Each character gets his/her own emotional arc. Truths regarding family bonds, parenting, courage, the need for love and companionship, and forging one's own trail form the movie's heart. The movie isn't sappy, though, as it acknowledges potential reasons why "herds" may break apart. Diego and Sid in particular find themselves dealing with loneliness (in Sid's case), or the need to strike out on one's own (Diego).

It also has the most audience-pleasing use of 3D in a CG animated family film to date. The pterodactyl chase and the bubble scene were some of the 3D standouts. There were no gimmicky 'stuff sticking into your face' 3D moments. Instead, the 3D draws you into the prehistoric world that the characters uncover. But I must say that I really felt an inch away from Scrat's funny-looking snout as he sniffed around for that acorn. Speaking of everyone's favorite squirrel/rat hybrid, Scrat has a love interest in the film, forming a storyline that surprises with how well it intersects with with the main plot of the movie.

The action sequences are a lot of fun - tense, well edited, and filled with character moments and humor. The movie itself played great to the crowd of parents and kids which formed the majority of my screening audience. The movie knows how to create excitement and get you cheering for the characters, and is filled with applause worthy moments. It's this great sense of pacing and payoff (both in terms of action and character) which got the audience cheering and elevates this film above the first two Ice Age movies.

Packed with jokes that work on multiple levels for audiences of all ages, the movie is very funny without resorting to pop-culture references. There were constant laughs and running commentary from the kids in the audience. In particular, Simon Pegg's character 'Buck' is an incredibly entertaining addition to the cast. His performance as a borderline crazy Australian hermit swashbuckling weasel leaps off the screen.

This movie will do great business. I'm very interested to see where the story goes next. Will it be the rumored "Ice Age: Th4w" which sees the gang getting frozen and defrosted in a modern-day museum? Or something completely different?

First Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs Clip!

Michael here.  I saw Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs tonight, and while my full review will have to wait until July 1, I can probably say that that the movie was exciting and hilarious, and the 3D was utilized wonderfully.  I'd love to go into more detail, but until July 1, saying that it is a winner will have to suffice.

To tide everyone over, here is a clip from the movie that Fox released today:

New Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs Poster!

Michael here with a new poster for Fox's July 1 third installment in the, in my opinion, greatly entertaining Ice Age franchise. 

I'm very interested to see how Fox's animated 3-D efforts compare to those of Dreamworks and Pixar, both of which also have their first from-the-ground-up 3-D films (Monsters Vs. Aliens and UP, respectively) releasing in 2009.  The 3-D flood is almost upon us! Or was that the last Ice Age movie?

source: eu.movieposter.com

Showest Updates: Monsters vs. Aliens Pic! Disney to Release "Up" in 3D!

Keep checking back to this post as I will be updating this throughout ShoWest!

>>UPDATE: (March 12th) - "Monsters vs. Aliens" wows its ShoWest audience as footage brings loud applause! There is no doubt that Katzenberg's "Ultimate 3-D" is very successful in bringing the viewer INTO the movie rather than having objects COME OUT to you. That is the key - that is the 3D ANTI-GIMMICK. For all those who still do not believe me or Katzenberg - please check out "Monsters vs. Aliens" when it finally comes out next spring, because it won't disappoint. Of course there are other 3D release coming out soon - BUT I cannot vouch for their artistry yet.

>>UPDATE: (March 11th) - Awesome new image from Dreamworks Animation for the 2009 3D "Monsters vs. Aliens". Here are the announced actors who will lend their voices:

>Kiefer Sutherland - General W.R. Monger
>Reese Witherspoon - Susan Murphy
>Stephen Colbert - The President
>Seth Rogen - The Jellylike B.O.B.
>Rainn Wilson - The Evil Alien Gallaxhar
>Hugh Laurie - Dr. Cockroach
>Will Arnett - The Half-ape, Half-fish Missing Link

MvsA is directed by Rob Letterman and Conrad Vernon and is based on the horror comicbook "Rex Havoc". It is still set for a March 27th, 2009 release.










>> Disney is going to release "Up" in both 2D and 3D on May 29th, 2009. This now adds to their other 4 movies due for release next year namely: "G-Force" (July 24th); "Toy Story" (Oct 2nd); A Christmas Carol (Nov 6th); and "Frankenweenie". Thanks to Peter over at /Film for the info.

>> Fox's "Ice Age 3" is now known as "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" and is still scheduled for release July 1st, 2009.

Avatar Poster? Ice Age 3 Poster? Perhaps...

** UPDATE (Feb 20th): Jim Cameron emailed AICN and said that this Avatar artwork is fake. Here is the link. Time for me to get Cameron's direct email it seems.

Andrea over at BadTaste have sent me what they are calling authentic promotional material for both "Avatar" and "Ice Age 3". They have also quoted my previous exclusive post regarding James Cameron's upcoming March announcement that is intended to generate some PR and update the VERY hungry public with anything Avatar.

I do not know their sources and I do not read Italian so fill your boots if you can by checking out their link. My opinion is that it is more than likely authentic - a smuggled scan(s) presumably - they do have an older version of the Avatar poster that was resident on the internal Weta "creative board" along with other items found here.

I would have posted sooner, but I was finally checking out "Juno" which stars my hometown heroine Ellen Page (Oscar Best Actress Nomination no less!). Rock on! Yeah, its only 2D - will have to talk to her about that!

So yeah - this is kinda cool if genuine - certainly it is fitting in close to my original time line of a major James Cameron announcement in March. We shall see what we shall see! :-)

Thanks for the note Andrea.

Aubrey Blaze Piranha 3D: Production To Begin In January 2008 for a Fall 2009 Release

StereoVision is ramping up their 3D movie production schedule and tops on their list is "Audrey Blaze Piranha" (ABP). ABP is a "creature" movie designed to be in-your-face entertainment with piranhas literally jumping off the screen at you.

StereoVision Entertainment is producing 3D movies designed to occupy the now rapidly expanding network of 3D theaters in between the major studio's tentpole (or major) releases.

The film will start production in Puerto Rico in January 2008 for a fall 2009 release.

Well ABP had better be an early fall release as there is a hard stop with Robert Zemeckis' "A Christmas Carol" scaring up holiday excitement on November 6th, 2009 and Dreamworks Animations release of "How To Train Your Dragon" hitting 3D screens November 20th, 2009. Fox's "Ice Age 3" (July 1st, 2009) should be wrapping up their 3D theater run well before early fall.

To me, piranhas seem like an awesome way to scare the crap out of people - I can envision plenty of ways to keep an audience on their toes throughout the duration of the movie! I just hope that it does not go too overboard with the "coming-at-ya" effects. That whole twist on 3D COULD be overdone and I don't want to see that happen. Directors like James Cameron will NOT be over doing these effects as he relies on his story, character development, overall cinematography and realistic CGI to achieve his goals. Goals that audiences love I might add. Let's hope for artistic creativity and not gimmicks. Ok, now that I have said my piece - good luck with the production Stereo Vision! The timing is perfect.

For a full listing of all 3D movies rumored, planned, in production or in theaters - click here.

Ice Age 3 Officially in Digital 3D !

20th Century Fox announced that "Ice Age 3" will indeed be made in Digital 3D. After pushing Avatar (James Cameron's 3D epic) back to Christmas 2009, Fox is releasing "Ice Age 3" in 3D on July 1st, 2009 to help fill Avatar's void at the 3D theaters. This is the same date as was originally planned for the 2D release.

Seems kinda back door-ish to me. Have Dreamworks Animation move their 3D sure-to-be-hit "Monsters vs. Aliens" to Easter to avoid "Avatar" and then release their animation tentpole close to Avatar's summer window. Voila. A nice 3D theater reservation system you got there. A side benefit of the assumed production delays over on Avatar.

I would like to hear what Jeff Katzenberg has to say about these recent developments!

Regardless of the controversy surrounding the launch date - I am really looking forward to this 3dpic. Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Queen Latifah and Dennis Leary are all back to lend their voices! Another romp in the really retro.

Source: Variety

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Avatar Rescheduled: Delays Seem Validated Now

"Avatar" has been pushed back until December 18th, 2009 from the Memorial Day weekend so that James Cameron has more time for "post-production".

Well we reported back on October 24th that Avatar was seemingly delayed back then! Slow moving productions at the initial several weeks of shooting definitely hinted at trouble brewing and this more than likely contributed to the rescheduling. Of course more development time helps, but it is EXPENSIVE. Look for the cost of "Avatar" to rise by $20-30 million to $225 million total, if not more.

Fox stressed that Cameron is on schedule during this press announcement. Hmmm. Right. They force their friends at Dreamworks Animation to change their plans for the major launch of their mega 3D project "Monsters vs. Aliens" to Easter rather than Memorial Day and now change their minds? To provide special effects while they STILL have 18 months to complete it? Nope. They are delayed all right. I will dig further into this with my sources.

I will say that Weta is different from other special effects companies. They DO NOT throw people at a problem to get it done on time. They have an elite team of developers and animators that work very closely and focus on a high quality of work that is simply not possible when throwing "contractors" at it. Weta no doubt has contributed a bit to this back-log. But I have little reservation in saying the shooting has been slow and the major cause of this reschedule. Cameron himself said on December 3rd:

"We've reworked the camera software on the fly, using a set of look-up curves we wrote ourselves, so now the cameras basically go to a default interocular setting automatically based on focal length and subject distance --- a kind of "auto-stereo" --- which is working really well."

So while they maybe "firing on all eight" now, they certainly were NOT when we first reported the slowdown back in October. Any slowdown (writing software customizations and hacks on the fly) has a domino effect that cannot be easily rectified. Toss in a jumbled and revamped shooting sequence due to Michelle Rodriguez and her date with the penal system and you have all the ingredients for a Yuletide Avatar rather than a summer Avatar.

Also, Fox announced yet another 3D movie tentpole: "Ice Age 3" pegged for July 1st, 2009! More details on that very soon.

I'll discuss more about "Avatar" soon! I knew I'd get to use that graphic again...

Source: Variety