There’s no doubt that “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs,” is a fun animated film and one that both kids and adults will enjoy, but the question remains as to if it was truly needed.

The first film has a great stand alone ability, as it gives the viewer closure and features the type of comedy that is engaging for both children and older viewers. The same thing goes for the second installment, which adds a few more characters, but is still endearing and charming and is a worthy sequel that builds off the relationship forged in the original.

Again, while the same thing goes for the third piece in the series, as Simon Pegg [Dawn of the Dead, Hot Fuzz] is absolutely hilarious as the voice of Buck, the newest furry friend to join the herd, you wonder how long the series can continue to be this solid without “jumping the shark.”

After watching the film, you realize that again, the plot has been put together well and with the voice talents of Ray Romano, Denis Leary, Queen Latifah and John Leguizamo, it’s worth the money and time to see it, especially if you are a fan of the series. The laughs still maintain the type of karmic balance that older viewers will find funny, but there seem to be slightly more geared towards the kiddies this time around. Nevertheless, the movie hasn’t resorted to a Madagascar-esque blend of comedy, giving it more of an edge against the rest of the flicks scheduled to hit reels this summer.

One of the ways “Ice Age” manages to get a majority of its laughs ironically is by channeling several other films, such as “Star Wars,” “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “E.T.,” a-la the “Shrek” series. These are the types of things that many of the kiddies won’t find humorous, but when it’s all said and done, they make for some of the funniest moments of the film.

Because of that, one can look at the newest installment of the series in two ways. One would be that it’s stretching its appeal and emulating other animated films and ultimately doing things better than they do. The other opinion could be that the series is slowly beginning to lose track of what made it so successful in the first place and this film could be the last one that truly captures the essence of the series, giving it little room to go up from now on, but plenty of room to decline.

These opinions, however, fail to address the fact that “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” works and does so due to a multitude of reasons, including a funny script, great animation, a fun soundtrack and excellent voice acting.

While the series may start to run its course and very soon at that, those looking for huge problems in this installment will have a hard time finding any that take away from their cinema experience.

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