Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

The third instalment of Blue Sky's prehistoric 3D cartoon caper, charting the further adventures of Sid the sloth, Manny the mammoth, Diego the Sabre-toothed tiger and Scrat the squirrel. When Sid accidentally falls through the ice and discovers a lost underworld populated by dinosaurs, it's up to his friends to come and rescue him. Voiced by Simon Pegg, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary and Queen Latifah,

James Dyer, Empire: It's a pacey, enjoyable yarn for the most part, but the franchise’s key strength is its characters and the relationships, tired by part two, are seriously running out of steam. The saving grace is Simon Pegg’s swashbuckling Buck, a plucky, one-eyed weasel who brings a welcome note of derring-do to the proceedings. (Verdict: 3 stars out of 5)

Kevin Maher, the Times: Whereas the previous chapters were sweetly anarchic, full of wisecracks and narrative digressions but also curious about eco-issues such as global warming and the extinction of species, this effort is dramatically inert and uninspired. (Verdict: 2 stars out of 5)

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Derek Adams, Time Out: It makes a change to see a 3D animated kids' film that doesn't poke your eyes out with fancy effects just for the sake of it. In fact, some of the 3D elements in Blue Sky's latest critter circus are so subtle you may not notice them. What you won't miss are the film's exhilarating action sequences and electrifyingly vibrant palette. (Verdict: 3 stars out of 5)