Our trio is still together and enjoying the perks of their now melting world. But a warming climate has one major drawback: A huge glacial dam holding off oceans of water is about to break, threatening the entire valley. The only chance of survival lies at the other end of the valley - they must find an ark that can save them from the oncoming flooding waters.
Ice Age: The Meltdown is wackier than its predecessor and features a lot less drama. This really increases the pacing of the story and allows more time for the characters to play up their strengths. Sid has more time to be the wacky heart of the group. Diego is allowed to be menacing and tough. Manny is more flabbergasted by his friends and he plays well off of Ellie. Finally, you have a lot more of Scrat and his antics.
It all comes together to allow the film to take the best parts of the first film and build on them. Many of the new characters that were added fit in perfectly with the cast, and you should look out for funny cameos.
From the animation point of view, it's almost identical to its predecessor, but there were a few noticeable tweaks that took it to a higher level.
Parents should take special note that the movie is quite scary and pretty intense at times, where characters are attacked and eaten in shocking manners. Younger kids will probably be pretty scared. There are also some profanities for jokes early in the film, really, you'd hear worse things on the television, but it's nothing you want to hear your kids repeating. Fortunately, the language mostly happens in the first 5-10 minutes of the movie and doesn't return.
