Ice Age

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Voice of:</span>John Leguizamo, Denis Leary<br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Directed by:</span>Tamra Davis<br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Rating:</span> ****<br />NO two ways about it. With this dazzling computer-generated cartoon, 20th-Century Fox joins <img height="114" width="168" src="-00.jpg" alt="-00.jpg" border="0" /></div> </div><div class="section2"><div class="Normal">pioneer producers Disney-Pixar and DreamWorks at the forefront of the digital animation revolution.A feat of technical wizardry, Ice Age is animated with as lush a palette and as vivid a feel for movement and perspective as, say, Toy Story, Antz> or Shrek._From a familiar premise that a cute child can melt the heart of any creature the witty, incident-packed script proceeds to work marvels.Replete with visual and verbal gags, the plot hinges on the unlikely bond that develops between three prehistoric mammals as they partner up to return a human infant to his father.A woolly, paternalistic mammoth (elocuted in appropriately cuddly tones by Ray Romano) is saddled with a glib-talking sloth (dubbed riproaringly by Leguizamo) and a cunning, sabre-toothed tiger (voiced with gleeful menace by Leary) when the rest of the animal population has migrated to warmer climes.Ceaselessly bickering among themselves, the three trek across a wintry terrain with the tiny tot in tow. Braving all sorts of calamities, our reluctant heroes must ensure that the baby is safely reunited with his tribe.As in other classic cartoon capers, first-time feature director Wedge (who won an Oscar for his 1998 animated short Bunny) crams the narrative with deftly defined characters.One of his most inspired creations is the indomitable Scrat. Part squirrel, part rat, this mute bundle of neurotic energy book-ends the film with his acorn-burying antics. Inadvertently precipitating a new disaster with each renewed attempt, the nutty nut-planter will have viewers howling with delight.In addition to the howlarious set pieces, the film is interspersed with several quietly affecting sequences. There is, for instance, the roller-coaster slide through the ice caves where the wall paintings depicting the killing of the mammoth''s forebears are poignantly animated to life.On the downside, the ending is a tad schmaltzy while the occasional musical interludes merely impede the story flow. But these are minor flaws in an otherwise cool`n''chic cartoon treat.With its captivating characters, richly textured images and snappy length of 80 minutes, Ice Age provides prime entertainment for kids and adults alike. Enjoy. </div> </div>