"It's the wind. It's speaking to us."
"What's it saying?"
"I don't know. I don't speak wind."
Changes are coming to the herd. Mammoths Manny (Romano) and Ellie (Latifah) are expecting a baby. Manny is overprotective and wants everything to be safe, while Ellie just wants a healthy baby. The rest of the herd has mixed feelings about what will happen once the baby is born. Diego (Leary) wants adventure and plans to leave the herd. Sid (Leguizamo) wants to start his own family. One day he falls into an ice cave in the ground and finds 3 eggs, that he decides to adopt.
The next day the eggs hatch and reveal baby dinosaurs, who believe Sid is their mom. He is overjoyed, until Momma T-rex arrives. She picks up Sid and the babies and heads back to the ice cave. The rest of the herd, including Ellie's possum brothers Crash (Scott) and Eddie (Peck), set out to rescue Sid.
Through the ice cave they stumble into a another world, filled with dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures. They are rescued by a one-eyed weasel named Buck (Pegg). Can they find Sid, stay away from the fearsome beast Rudy, and get home again before the baby is born.
This film is the third film in the Ice Age franchise, following Ice Age (2002) and Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006), and followed by Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) and Ice Age: Collision Course (2016).
The Good:
The original cast returns for another adventure. The story still highlights the differences between the herd members and how they come together to be a family.
Simon Pegg is a fun addition to the cast as Buck.
Dinosaurs. They came up with a interesting way to being dinosaurs into the world, without keeping them around or changing the time frame.
The Bad:
Rudy might be too scary for young audiences. It feels weird to say, but Scrat's love story is too much. Scrat and Scratte's rivalry is entertaining, but the relationship slows down the reat of the film.
Other Comments:
-This is my favorite film on the franchise.
-Buck's story with Rudy is similar to "Moby Dick".
-Legendary voice actors Frank Welker voices the dinosaurs: Momma and Rudy, in a uncredited part.
-Buck was given a spin-off film in 2022 The Ice Age Addventures of Buck Wild.
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) 94 minutes
Director: Carlos Saldanha
Starring: Ray Romano as Manny
John Leguizamo as Sid
Denis Leary as Diego
Simon Pegg as Buck
Queen Latifah as Ellie
Seann William Scott as Crash
Josh Peck as Eddie
Chris Wedge as Scrat