Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009)

My favorite out of the series. Introduces a new character and he cracks me up. I love this movie.

When "Sid" crashes through the ice and discovers a nest of eggs, he is soon rather unwillingly adopted by their parent and finds himself in a lost, more dangerous and Jurassic, world. Meantime, atop the ice his pals are anticipating the arrival of a baby mammoth while sabre-tooth "Diego" is having a bit of a mid-life crisis and "Scrat" might just have found love during his latest acorn-tussle. The gang soon realise that "Sid" has gone AWOL and that they are going to have to risk life and limb to try and rescue their buddy from his new hostile environment - so off they head into the perilous land of dinosaurs and of the hugely annoying "Buck". He's the eye-patched, and very verbose, weasel who claims to be the sort of Allan Quartermain of dino-hunters. From hereon in there are plenty of lively escapades to be had as the franchise quite successfully morphs into the world of the T-Rex and velociraptor whilst helping "Diego" feel valued again and getting everyone ready for the arrival of the wooly wean. The soundtrack is interesting - most of it way too old for the demographic, I'd have thought - but the animation is fun to watch with a better story than "Meltdown" (2006) and even if I really would have preferred something had eaten the weasel very much earlier on, it's a solid and entertaining outing for everyone and that acorn is still elusive!

Before this movie, Scrat and his nut provided short breaks between the main plot for quick comedy. But with the introduction of Scratte, comedy relief transforms into a soap opera. Just like the classic silent films of the golden age of Hollywood, no words are spoken between the two squirrels, but complex emotions still get through to the viewer. Even the scorned acorn experiences a powerful sense of loss and betrayal, shown through the heart-wrenching ballad "Alone Again." A love triangle like no other.

Buck should have stayed with the herd. When he left, I was very sad.

> (3/5, originally reviewed 8/4/24)