![]() ![]() ![]() Latifah is a pleasant surprise as 'Ellie' with her quite soothing peaceful voice but all the other characters are more generic, annoying, forgettable and merely filler for the background.īeing made a good fours years after the first effects have gotten better also. This mean we do get more greatness from Leguizamo as 'Sid' who is still easily the best character here. Voices are all the same which is good continuity. They don't look too nasty obviously but its cool to see all various types of prehistoric creatures being used, factual or not doesn't matter here. The two sea reptiles that pursue the team are a nice menacing touch. The new mammoth voiced by Queen Latifah also predictably adds a nice cuddly romance into the fold which for myself (and possibly other male adults) kinda made things a bit lame. Predictably this entails the same kind of japes that we saw in the first film but merely with new mammals to join in. The plot is simple again (kids film remember), all the creatures must escape their current home within a large valley because it will flood, not too original this time. By far the worst characters in the new film and always a mistake to go down that route. The new mammoth also brings two little sidekick creatures with her that use modern slang with visual references from time to time, clearly to appeal to the whole spectrum of young people. There are cute little furry things with big eyes running around with their parents looking after them, more silly childish little visual gags and of course the eventual introduction of female mammoth 'Ellie'. The first impression you get instantly is this time its really aimed at the kids route. We are introduced to a whole bunch of mammal families in this film, all kinds of small to large creatures that now live and play with our original trio. This time the nicely accurate problem of the Ice Age coming to a slow end and massive pending floods risking the lives of everything. I do look forward to his branching into new genres with this summer\'s Flight 93 and X-Men: The Last Stand.I like how they use the realtime events in Earth's ancient history as guidelines for the continuing adventures in this franchise. This is not Powell\'s best score, but it is nice to see him return to the energetic animated films. They are easily skipped, though they do fit in with the playful nature of the score. These are fun songs that kids will enjoy, but I find somewhat detracting from the actual score. There are a couple cast songs that Powell seems to have written music for, or adapted for the film (such as "Food Glorious Food" from Oliver!). This cue ends with an eerie Thin Red Line-like pulsating flute part. This continues through "Mammoths", which is the highlight of the album where the theme comes out in full in the French horns backed by trumpets. The percussion becomes heavier and the brass becomes a stronger presence. The second half of the album is a bit more dramatic as the action on-screen picks up, beginning with "The Boat and the Geysers". Many of the cues on the hour-long album are short and Powell does not develop his theme as well as he has for previous scores, such as Evolution. One element I have always enjoyed in Powell\'s scores is his use of acoustic guitars and other string instruments along with his light percussion style, even in conjunction with the orchestra ("Call of the Mammoth"). This is especially apparent in the opening cue, "The Waterpark". Probably his most playful since Chicken Run with Harry Gregson-Williams, Ice Age: The Meltdown utilizes many percussive effects, even various wind and string instruments in percussive ways to keep the score moving. Fully orchestral, with a playfulness that retains its musicality without becoming corny, this score is a great addition to Powell\'s filmography. While Robots was a good score by Powell, it did not return to the style he made so popular in Shrek, Evolution, and The Road to El Dorado. ![]() John Powell\'s varied career has shifted in recent years more toward the action/thriller genre (the Bourne series, Mr. ![]()
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