Ice Age 3 (U)

IMAGINE the terror, readers. One day while minding your own business, you stumble across a lost valley filled with snaggle-toothed, yammering beasts you thought had died out years ago.

Yep, we've all mistakenly flicked over to the new series of Big Brother at some point.

But for the cast of Ice Age 3, it's even worse. Because these genetic throwbacks won't just bore them to death - they want to eat them.

Welcome, then, to the Dawn of the Dinosaurs. And it's a recipe for success if ever there was one.

SAVE US: Dinosaur age survivors

Just take a cast of much-loved cartoon animals. Beat well, with avalanches, logs and whatever else comes to hand.

Combine with a story that's suitable for the youngest sprogs but will still entrance the older ones. Add the voice of a flavour-of-the-month star (Simon Pegg, as eye- patch-wearing weasel Buck) and some new screenwriting talent (Mike Reiss, who wrote for The Simpsons when it was still funny).

And finally, leave to rise with the help of some flash new digital 3D technology.

End result is an hour-and-a-half feast of laughs and slapstick action that only the most jaded film snob could resist (and believe me I tried).

The story begins with mum mammoth Ellie (Queen Latifah) and dad mammoth Manny (Ray Romano) preparing for the birth of their baby.

Crazy

Meanwhile, broody Sid the sloth (John Leguizamo) finds a clutch of eggs in a mysterious cave and decides to raise them as his own kids. Sounds crazy, but perhaps it's the kind of thing Madonna might have done if she'd been alive 10,000 years ago.

SKULL'S OUT: Weasel Buck

(Of course we'll never know because Madonna was born 9,500 years ago, or so the best records indicate.) You can see where this is going: The eggs hatch into baby T-Rexes, then Mum comes to rescue them and drags Sid off to a hidden valley where - yes! - the dinosaurs have survived the Ice Age.

And naturally, it's up to his mammal pals to rescue him - while Scrat the squirrel tags along in pursuit of his runaway acorn (as ever).

That's about it for plot. As franchise fans will expect, Ice Age 3 is made up of five-minute-long comedy or action 'bits' - and the film flits from one to the next without a pause.

Mayhem

The price, of course, is the story doesn't get any more involving than 'get characters from A to B so they can rescue C and get home in time for T'.

But then, that's not why families go to see Ice Age movies.

Ice Age's makers Blue Sky Studios will never compare with Toy Story creators Pixar when it comes to depth and heart, or Kung Fu Panda stable Dreamworks in terms of all-out spectacle. But one thing they DO get just right is old-fashioned, Looney Tunes-style cartoon mayhem.

And the physical comedy in Ice Age 3 - if 'physical' is the right word for clumps of pixels bashing into each other - is right on the money. It's proper, funny stuff.

And if you can see it in 3D, so much the better - the extra dimension gives the action bits extra oomph and some of the quieter scenes unexpected beauty. So despite its lightweight feel, Ice Age 3 is pretty irresistible. Just don't expect to see a reinvention of the wheel. Although I hear that may be a key plot point in Ice Age 4.

OUT WEDNESDAY

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