Ice Age: Dawn of More Sequels?

The studio is in the process of making a fourth already!

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs is the third film in the Ice Age series. After the surprising success of the first film in 2002 and a ho-hum sequel in 2006 Fox decided to fast track another sequel which was originally scheduled for a December 08 release but was pushed back till July 1st 2009. Ray Romano, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo, Queen Latifah, Seann William Scott, Josh Peck return to voice their usual characters. It was also a delight to get Simon Pegg and Bill Hader (whose part was to brief) to take on new characters introduced into the film. Carlos Saldanha has directed (or co-directed) all the Ice Age films and shares duties with Mike Thurmeier this time around. The movie used a very basic plot that works even with the absurd fact that an entire world lives underneath all the ice.

The new style the director chose with many quick zoom shots and slow motion sequences, that were not used much in the earlier films, was a breath of life into the movie itself by creating more action than there really was on screen. Parallels to real life problems experienced at the beginning of the film by our main characters were perfect. It was almost as if you were participating in the film itself. Manny trying to “baby proof” nature was hysterical.

Cheap gags are a common place in every comedy but Ice Age manages to use them and still have more laughs caused by intelligent material. That is not to say a Scrat getting kicked in the nuts is not funny but they did not base the film or characters on gimmicks like that with the small exception of Crash and Eddy. There was an incredible amount of adult humour that most children probably will not pick up on. A few choices may have gone a little over the top and caused some controversy. Personally, I didn't have much of an issue with some of these decisions, but some parents probably ended up having to explain some things to their children that they would have rather not had to.

This is the second film I have seen in 3D and I thought this was much better than the 3D that Pixar used for Up. Nothing utterly breathtaking about it but they used the 3D to their advantage much better, especially with the pterodactyl dogfight scene which was tremendous. This could possibly the best film of the entire series. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs will not win any awards, nor should it, but it is great fun that everyone can enjoy and I would recommend seeing it when you get the chance.

3 out of 5
Colin Enquist

Star Trek Avoiding Negativity

Looking to prosper at the box office

BY COLIN ENQUIST


Reboots have been taking a lot of flak, mostly because they are being done so poorly. Some exceptions do apply though, King Kong, The Magnificent Seven, Ocean's Eleven, are a few that come to mind. It looks like we may be able to add another film to that list. The J.J. Abrams version of Star Trek, while not being officially released until Thursday at 7:00 PM on May, 7th, preview screenings have been popping up all around. It seems that every person who has seen the film can only say positive things about the it.

Abrams was originally attached as a producer only, citing that he wanted to work with writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci again, whom he worked with during the filming of Mission Impossible III. Kurtzman and Orci both label themselves "Trekkies" and wanted to create a script that a die hard fan would enjoy, the casual fan and introduce Star Trek to any newcomers as well. Abrams on the other hand is just a casual fan. Then Abrams read the script, stating that he was envious of whoever got to direct the film. Paramount must have heard this and quickly offered him the job, which Abrams jumped at the chance. The writing duo of Orci and Kurtzman must have done what they set out to do, if a casual fan (Abrams) loved the story so much he had to direct.

The first public screening was held on April 6, 2009, at the Alamo Drafthouse theater in Austin, Texas, hosted by writers Robert Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and producer Damon Lindelof. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was what everyone in the theatre thought they were going to see, followed by a ten-minute preview of the new Star Trek film. To the audiences surprise, a few minutes into Khan, the film began to melt on screen and Leonard Nimoy appeared on stage with Orci, Kurtzman and Lindelof, asking the audience, "wouldn’t you rather see the new movie?" For almost two years, Vulcan, Alberta had campaigned to host the film premiere, but the small town lacks a movie theater, so Paramount arranged instead a lottery where 300 winning residents would be taken to a pre-release screening in Calgary, Alberta. The first of many premieres across the world was held at the Sydney Opera House on April 7, 2009. On April 11, the film was screened by 920 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. Cast and crew members were in Kuwait to meet with the soldiers.

Not much is known aboout the plot, just that the film will chronicle the early days of James T. Kirk and his fellow crew members aboard the USS Enterprise. Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Leonard Nimoy, Eric Bana, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, John Cho, Karl Urban and Zoe Saldana star in the film. Rumours have been bounding around that William Shatner will have a cameo in the film, but Shatner has stated he did not want a cameo in the film rather a part along the lines of Nimoy's.

Now, as we draw closer to the theatrical release, reviews are showing up across the internet. Boston Globe writer Ty Burr gave the film a 4/4 and said it is "ridiculously satisfying", and the "best prequel ever". Tall words, but with Rotten Tomatoes having the film at 100% fresh rating off of 22 reviews, Metacritic holds a score of 89 and IMDB the film is sitting at 8.2/10, how can you not believe him. The movie trailers have looked fantastic and hearing no negative rumblings from any fan, Trekkie or casual, can you refrain from seeing this film opening night? I know I can't.