Simon Dillon reviews the film

Whilst not as satisfying as the original Ice Age, Ice Age 3 Dawn of the Dinosaurs is an action filled piece of summer nonsense that is ideal for family audiences. It's not in the same league as Pixar's monumentally brilliant Up (due for release in the UK this October), but it's a diverting enough tale, especially if seen in 3-D. It's also a big improvement on the second film in the franchise.

The meagre plot involves returning characters Diego (the sabre-tooth tiger), Manny and a pregnant Ellie (the mammoths), plus those two irritating possums from the second film, heading into a dinosaur filled Lost World type underground where Sid (the sloth) has been kidnapped by a T-Rex after he unwisely tried to be a parent to its hatchlings. Here they meet a somewhat deranged weasel called Buck who helps them in their quest.

Cue loads of exciting and silly set pieces involving dinosaurs, giant flesh eating plants, collapsing precipices, lava falls and so forth. There are lots of in-jokes for adults with nods to Jurassic Park, The Flintstones, and even The Empire Strikes Back. Queen Latifah, Dennis Leary, John Leguizamo, Ray Romano and Simon Pegg all provide good vocals, and the animation, under the direction of Carlos Saldanha and Mike Thurmeier, is certainly within sight of Pixar standards. Also, for those familiar with the franchise, the "Scrat" gags are very good in this one (particularly those involving a new love interest, "Scratte").

As an aside, it's somewhat amusing that certain scientists are getting hot under the collar about so-called evolutionary inaccuracies in this film. To them, the heretical concept of having dinosaurs in a film alongside woolly mammoths, sabre-tooth tigers and the like is tantamount to blasphemy and brainwashing children. Heaven forbid their impressionable little minds might actually contemplate the possibility that these creatures were on the earth together before they were hunted to extinction (an unfashionable but Biblical perspective).

Speaking of spiritual matters, there are some good and appropriate messages about friendship, working together, and most interestingly what happens to a friendship when one of said friends starts a family. There are one or two very slightly risqué jokes, but nothing that warrants anything above its U certificate. In fact, it's great to see a good fun summer film that can be enjoyed by very young children as well as the rest of the family.

So in short: no masterpiece but plenty of fun.