The awww overdose -- Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

TOO MUCH OF EVERYTHING: Ice Age 3

Genre: Comedy

Director: Carlos Saldanha

Cast: Ray Romano, Denis Leary, Queen Latifah, John Leguizamo, Simon Pegg

Storyline: Manny and Co. set out to rescue Sid, who is busy playing father to a bunch of baby dinosaurs in hostile dinosaur territory

Bottomline: So cutesy, it’s for babies only

Kids, babies, girls and little boys, grab those 3-D glasses and sit back to watch your favourite pack of prehistoric animals go on another adventure. Moping Manny (Ray Romano), a pregnant Ellie (Queen Latifah) and aging Diego (Denis Leary) must go to save their talkative friend Sid (John Leguizamo), who has a flair for getting into trouble. This time around, it’s from the dangerous world of ‘Indiana Jones’-meets-‘Jurassic Park.’ Because, Sid has unwittingly found himself playing father to a set of newly-born dinosaurs and must protect them from the evil T-Rex, Rudy — the terror of the territory. The rest of it is pretty predictable.

The friends must battle their new set of demons — literally and mentally. Introverted Manny must gain in confidence (if not for Ray Romano, this is one character that could’ve become plain annoying, but hey, Everybody Loves Raymond), Diego is considering going back to an adventurous existence, Sid is longing to be a parent and Ellie has a baby due. If you are fans of this franchise and are hoping that Scrat will finally be united with his acorn, you are in for an extended adventure. The cameo character almost has a parallel role and the squirrel also has a love interest this time around.

But this episode really belongs to Buck, the one-eyed weasel and dinosaur hunter (Simon Pegg) who walks away with the best lines in the film, with Ellie’s possum brothers, Eddie and Crash, playing sidekicks.

The problem with ‘Ice Age’ is that of excess. In a bid to make sure you get more of everything you loved, franchise-director Carlos Saldanha packs way too much cuteness into one film. And, babies — there are dinosaur babies and even a mammoth baby by the end of it. Adults may find it manipulatively awww-inducing, but thankfully, the jokes still work. ‘Ice Age 3’ is three times the cool quotient if you are a fan.

But, be warned. If you are not the biggest fan of all things cute and little, you might find yourself left in the cold, wearing silly goggles in the dark. .

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