Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, also known as Ice Age 3, is a 2009 3-D computer animated film. It is the third installment of the Ice Age series, produced by Blue Sky Studios and distributed by 20th Century Fox. A sneak preview was shown in selected theaters on Father's Day in the United States. The film features the voices of Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Queen Latifah, Seann William Scott, Josh Peck, Simon Pegg, and Chris Wedge. The story has Sid being taken by a female Tyrannosaurus rex after stealing her eggs, leading the rest of the protagonists to rescue him in a tropical lost world inhabited by dinosaurs beneath the ice. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, Dawn of the Dinosaurs became the third highest grossing animated film of all time with $886.7 million worldwide, behind only Toy Story 3 with $1.063 billion and Shrek 2 with $919.8 million.
The film received mixed reviews from critics. As of December 21, 2010, Rotten Tomatoes reported that 45% of critics gave positive reviews based on 152 reviews with an average score of 5.4/10.[5] Among Rotten Tomatoes' Cream of the Crop, which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television, and radio programs, the film holds an overall approval rating of 37% based on 27 reviews.[6] Another review aggregator, Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, gives the film an average score of 51% based on 23 reviews.[7]
However, Roger Ebert gave the film three and a half stars out of four claiming that Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs is the best of the three films about our friends in the inter-species herd of plucky prehistoric heroes. And it involves some of the best use of 3-D I've seen in an animated feature. [8] Lou Lumenik of the New York Post awarded the film 3 stars stating that the film is much more of an emphasis on action in this nicely crafted, fast-paced sequel. [9] Keith Phipps of the A.V. Club graded the film a C+ claiming the sequel throws its commitment to the era away with movie number three, a ploy sure to anger Ice Age purists everywhere. [10] Carrie Rickey of the Philadelphia Inquirer enjoyed the film's animation art is Seuss-imaginative , but panned the flatness of the story and indifferent voicework all the more obvious. [11]
A fourth film was announced by Twentieth Century Fox on May 5, 2010 with the tentative title Ice Age: Continental Drift. It is scheduled to be released in 3D on July 13, 2012.[55] Ray Romano, Queen Latifah, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary and Chris Wedge are expected to reprise their roles as Manny, Ellie, Sid, Diego and Scrat.[56]
