Ice Age: The Meltdown

It's hard to live up to the huge expectations that came from the great first film. Ice Age 2 still has a bunch of likeable eccentric protagonists whose absurd hand-in-hand coexistence with a life-threatening situation works, but the jokes are largely tired and the only speed-up factor remains the gourmet squirrel with his "escaping" acorn. The short runtime is OK, the voice acting is brilliant, and the little possums quickly gain sympathy, but the gap from the first episode is simply too deep, and the mammoth Ellie is a real handful :) 65% (04/18/2011)

The first Ice Age was pretty much about nothing, but it was very entertaining (I gave it four stars). The second one, on the other hand, is completely about nothing and minimally entertaining (only the squirrel saves it). The animation is excellent (with the exception of the big wave) and the sound of cracking ice is great, but the screenplay – from the one-liners and jokes to the use of the characters’ potential for cuteness – ranks among below-average, straight-to-DVD animated B-movies. For a mega-project like Ice Age 2, that is bewildering. (03/29/2006)

The lack of a denser and more spirited plot could be excused by the fact that this is a film for children. But when a little boy of about six, who was sitting behind me in the movie theater, asked his mother questions like "Why are they going there?" and "What are they doing there?", it was clear to me that the second installment of Ice Age was nothing more than a safe bet. It’s a safe bet that throws in one gag after another, interspersed with more "action-oriented" scenes, mammoth (literally) prodding, and very (and I mean very!) poor and awkward attempts at a few little quotes from other films (M:I-II, Saving Private Ryan). Ice Age: The Meltdown is a terrible film that hasn't changed a single pixel, let alone the plot, so the adage that you can only make a single tea out of one tea bag is more than spot on here. (05/19/2006)

It's a pretty nice movie, but somehow I can't help but feel that I enjoyed the first part more than this one. However, I have to appreciate the originality, which also quite well connects to what was in the first film. Scrat is still funny and the main group has grown quite well here. Additionally, the mammoth as a possum is just a wonderfully crazy idea. (03/23/2015)

It wasn't love at first sight, but maybe that's why "Obleva" is now my favorite episode. Sid impresses with every dumb word he says, I find myself humming the Bugging Song suspiciously often, and Scrat is definitely the king of the supporting animated characters. As I got used to the much greater emphasis on family values during subsequent viewings, I can't help but smile while writing this comment. (04/27/2006)