Two Reviews: Poseidon and Ice Age 2

Sometimes, it helps to point the expect-o-meter to the low setting before going out to see a movie. That’s exactly where mine was set when I took in a showing of Poseidon this past Saturday at the Dutch Square AMC Theaters. Just the day before, I had read the 1.5 star review of the movie in the State Newspaper, and I almost did not want to go and see it. I am so glad I did.

Once again, I had no complaints about Dutch Square’s Theaters. Missy runs a good ship over there. It was great fun talking with Winn at the front door. The projection and sound levels were spot on. Nothing distracted from the film itself.

Here is where the review fails, and generally speaking, this is a problem with most reviews: it fails to put the film into a proper context. What are we going to see? A remake of an Irwin-Allen disaster flick! Not necessarily Citizen Kane, but darn entertaining. And that’s how I walked away from the current version of Poseidon: entertained.

I can not say the same with Ice Age 2: The Meltdown. I took this in at the Columbiana Grande Cinemas. My biggest complaint about the showing of this film was the condition of the screen. In a movie where white is the predominant color, a dirty screen shows up like a red spot.

But, worse than the dirty screen, was the story. I was surprised by the first movie: it had chemistry between the characters However, this outing was just bland. The warming climate threatens to flood the valley where the animals have settled. At the other end of the valley, there is a promise of a boat where everyone will be safe (I could not tell if this was going to work into an alternate telling of Noah’s ark…it didn’t). So begins the road movie. Along the way, Manny meets a female mammoth raised by possums. The two possums did provide some chuckles, but they worked really hard for each one. Along the trek, the group is pursued by two prehistoric animals who never seem to pose a real threat and we are treated to outtakes of the Squirrel trying to get his acorn (which has very little to do with the film). I was bored the entire time. The animation was brilliant, but the story was all wet.