ICE Age 3: Age of the Dinosaurs is a sensitive and moderately hilarious film that explores the values of friendship and family in the context of genuine love. Children and adults will find profoundly useful ideas except for an apparent downside. Here are a few of the good ideas:

Danger can refocus life from the problems to solutions. Diego’s self-pity and depression lifts up when he sees that Sid is in danger. He forgets his own problems and raced after Momma to save Sid. Even “crazy” people have something wise to say. The crazy weasel the herd found in Buck has pulled them through in the dinosaur jungle. And they discover that “crazy” Buck too can be a good friend.

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Romanticizing the Scrat-Scratte affair confuses children. This downside in the film requires some explaining to the kids. While an old cliché in filmmaking, it is not appropriate for children as far as sound psychology is concerned. Because most viewers of this film are kids even younger than graders, attention to this issue must be painstaking.

Even among high school students, most especially in cultures not as sexually permissive as the US, the romantic interlude can misguide children into thinking that romance is what love is. This distorted view on love has claimed lots of young victims since the age of fairy tales.

Overall, the movie has a good and fun story to tell. Its comedy though is not as biting as the first two installments, but you can still find laughs in this one. Scrat though has ceased to be funny in this installment.

But Sid remained winsome, hilarious and sensitive. Crash and Eddie as well as Buck have their own funny stunts to pull. The movie is good for family viewing and generally safe for conscientious Christians except for the red flag in the Scrat-Scratte affair.

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