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It has a longer official title but that's the nuts and bolts of the film. The third(?) film in the Ice Age feature-length cartoon series, and this time it's in 3D. I raised a thread in this forum sometime back about whether 3D will attract more viewers. All I've got to judge by is one viewing of one modern 3D film, so I'm certainly not an expert on the subject.
But my wife and I took our three youngest grandchildren to see the film the night it opened here in Houston in several metroplex theaters. Tickets ran $50 for the 5 of us, which was a world cheaper than taking them to the circus or Disney on Ice. Shoot, there have been times I spilled more than that on a night out, so I'm not shot out of shape over the cost. But the small extra cost of the 3D film vs. that of the 2D version playing at the same theater was just not worth it considering the poor quality of the 3D. When it comes to things really jumping off the screen at you like in shows at Disneyworld or even in House of Wax back in the 1950s, it just wasn't there. The 3D was most evident in the opening credits, but once the movie started with cartoon characters jumping and throwing and flying, it was hard at times to remember we were suppose to be watching 3D. My 6-year-old granddaughter remarked about the letters of the title being "in her face," but wasn't as impressed by later action. I thought at first maybe my lack of 3D awareness was because I put the 3D glasses over my eyeglasses, but I also tried it with my eyeglasses over the 3D glasses, and simply with the 3D glasses alone--Regardless what I did, the 3D effect remained minimal, to the point where I finally forgot we were watching 3D at all. After the movie, my wife remarked independently that she wasn't impressed with the minimal 3D effect.
The film itself is OK. The same characters from the first film with the additional main characters from the second film carried over, and a couple of additional characters from the third. Plot is familar--mammals migrating. But it's actually a funny film in many spots. This time around the "sabre-tooth" squirrel has a bigger role and a girlfriend competing for his prize acorn. Strangely enough, the squirrel chasing a lone acorn in an iced over world is funny in ads and a short cartoon, But I got tired of his padded role in this film. Kids and adults can enjoy the jokes. Kids may cringe at some of the more exciting scenes of the hero mammals battling dinosaurs in the cave that time forgot. My granddaugher had a death grip on my arm in a couple of scenes. Parents and grandparents may cringe a bit when kids ask what's wrong with the lady wooly mammoth when she's going through the pains of childbirth.
Anyway, we attended a 7 p.m. showing on a Wednesday night, not my normal time for going to a movie, so I don't know how it compares crowd-wise. But there were rows of open-seating in our theater, no crowd at the box office, and the lobby was pretty empty both before and after the movie. Seemed like it was a slow night for all the films playing. Every adult in our theater was accompanied by one or more pre-teen children. Lots of laughter, but no one squealing and ducking 3D objects from the screen like in shows at Disneyworld.
I'd give the film itself 3 out of 5 points, but then take away 1 point for the 3D not living up to even 1950s standards.
But my wife and I took our three youngest grandchildren to see the film the night it opened here in Houston in several metroplex theaters. Tickets ran $50 for the 5 of us, which was a world cheaper than taking them to the circus or Disney on Ice. Shoot, there have been times I spilled more than that on a night out, so I'm not shot out of shape over the cost. But the small extra cost of the 3D film vs. that of the 2D version playing at the same theater was just not worth it considering the poor quality of the 3D. When it comes to things really jumping off the screen at you like in shows at Disneyworld or even in House of Wax back in the 1950s, it just wasn't there. The 3D was most evident in the opening credits, but once the movie started with cartoon characters jumping and throwing and flying, it was hard at times to remember we were suppose to be watching 3D. My 6-year-old granddaughter remarked about the letters of the title being "in her face," but wasn't as impressed by later action. I thought at first maybe my lack of 3D awareness was because I put the 3D glasses over my eyeglasses, but I also tried it with my eyeglasses over the 3D glasses, and simply with the 3D glasses alone--Regardless what I did, the 3D effect remained minimal, to the point where I finally forgot we were watching 3D at all. After the movie, my wife remarked independently that she wasn't impressed with the minimal 3D effect.
The film itself is OK. The same characters from the first film with the additional main characters from the second film carried over, and a couple of additional characters from the third. Plot is familar--mammals migrating. But it's actually a funny film in many spots. This time around the "sabre-tooth" squirrel has a bigger role and a girlfriend competing for his prize acorn. Strangely enough, the squirrel chasing a lone acorn in an iced over world is funny in ads and a short cartoon, But I got tired of his padded role in this film. Kids and adults can enjoy the jokes. Kids may cringe at some of the more exciting scenes of the hero mammals battling dinosaurs in the cave that time forgot. My granddaugher had a death grip on my arm in a couple of scenes. Parents and grandparents may cringe a bit when kids ask what's wrong with the lady wooly mammoth when she's going through the pains of childbirth.
Anyway, we attended a 7 p.m. showing on a Wednesday night, not my normal time for going to a movie, so I don't know how it compares crowd-wise. But there were rows of open-seating in our theater, no crowd at the box office, and the lobby was pretty empty both before and after the movie. Seemed like it was a slow night for all the films playing. Every adult in our theater was accompanied by one or more pre-teen children. Lots of laughter, but no one squealing and ducking 3D objects from the screen like in shows at Disneyworld.
I'd give the film itself 3 out of 5 points, but then take away 1 point for the 3D not living up to even 1950s standards.