I wasn't expecting too much from this film because the first one was just fine. Not saying it sucked (like Madagascar), just that, it wasn't all that. So the reason why the tickets were sold out for this movie on the first and second days of screening (on weeknights?!) and most probably on the weekend too, I don't think I will ever comprehend. But then, it is a family movie, and I guess there are plenty of new families nowadays. Anyway...

Big round of applause for the CG artists because the animation in this movie is most definitely the "@#$#%#!!! Cool!" kind. Especially the part with the avalanche -- I think there have been many movies with an avalanche/rushing water scene before (The X-Files, LOTR), but this one definitely had the best. It was one of those rare ocassions that I actually said "Wow!" out loud in the theater. I don't think anyone other than my sister shared my enthusiasm for the CG though as the cinema was full of kids (one of which--the boy beside me, kept calling the mammoths "elephants"), but who cares? The animation rocks!

I know that the "squirrel" thingie with the acorn is such a sell-out, but in fairness, the animators thought of a lot of good ideas on how he can lose an acorn. It was just insane. :P And if the mission for the mini-sloth's song/chant was to show a better version of that "I Like to Move It" song in Madagascar, then I must say, mission accomplished! They were very entertaining and it's great how they didn't just make them dance based on some disco-type song. I'm not too crazy about the "vulture song" though, and I think that the movie would've been better if they'd cut that part out completely.

Actually, there were several parts in the movie that I think would've made the movie a lot better if they were cut, like the whole romance bit between the mammoths for instance. Sure it was kinda funny how Ellie thought she was a possum and and that Manny would be the one to make her realize what she truly was, but did all those "romantic" lines really have to be included? It's a kid's movie! I honestly think that friendship would've been enough [They could've been Just Friends, hehe]. After all, if in the beginning the point was that Manny was no longer 'the last mammoth on Earth', then all the romance stuff should've just been implied. D: I actually don't like it that Manny the Mammoth changed so much because he was such fun to listen to in the first movie, with all his sarcasm and wit... It's a shame the writers had to change him just so he could get a girlfriend. But, I'm not starting that issue in the middle of a movie review.

Complaints aside, the possums were way funny. Not surprisingly, their voice artists are really nice comedians, too (Seann WIlliam Scott, Josh Peck). And of course, the saber was the coolest character despite his fear of water ( I love cats!). The story was pretty cool, takes your mind off that fact that they all do eventually become extinct, and I like how their "herd" didn't change and just had additions and stuff. Yeah, so aside from the romance bit and the vulture song, it was all good. Cheers for an animated movie with animals that doesn't suck like Madagascar! (Hehe, sorry for all those Madagascar comments, just that, that movie really was, ick.)