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Much like "Pirates of the Caribbean," "Ice Age" was a very welcome, pleasant surprise that made the fatal mistake of making money. This led to executives deciding to drain the well dry of any fun and mystique of the original for vastly inferior sequels.

The third Ice Age, subtitled "Dawn of the Dinosaurs," begs the question of "Just how many Ice Ages can there be?" We won't know the answer until they stop making money.

This doesn't bode well for the ongoing saga of Scrat the squirrel and his quest for an acorn, a series subplot that doesn't have an impact on the main plot. Now it's just a very tired running joke.

Manny the wooly mammoth (Ray Romano, "Everybody Loves Raymond") and his wife, Ellie (Queen Latifah, "The Secret Life of Bees") are expecting. Another surefire sign of trilogies or franchises long in the tooth is the infusion of some excitement via a baby.

Manny, like most first time fathers-to-be, is just a tad obnoxious and overprotective while Ellie is the model of composure.

Manny's buddies, Sid the sloth (John Leguizamo, "Rage") and Diego, the saber-toothed tiger (Denis Leary, "Rescue Me"), are handling the news in decidedly different fashions.

Diego thinks he's losing his predator edge and figures it's time for him to leave the gang. Sid finds three eggs and gets maternal for some inexplicable reason. After the first 15 minutes, I was concerned this movie was geared more for men going through their mid-life crisis than for children.

Following some tedious scenes of Sid caring for the eggs, they finally hatch into three cute baby dinosaurs, to which Sid exclaims, "I'm a mommy!" Parents, enjoy explaining that to your children.

Not too surprisingly, momma dinosaur returns and takes her tykes and Sid with her to an underground land, filled with all sorts of new perils for Manny and company.

The land of dinosaurs proves to be hazardous even for two wooly mammoths and a saber-toothed tiger. So an eccentric weasel, Buck (Simon Pegg, "Star Trek"), comes to their aid and teaches them how to survive in the foreign land.

The film's humor is odd as most of it relies on pop culture references like "The Flintstones" and "Tarzan," that once again seem more intended for adults than the kids who dragged their parents to see this in the first place. I kept wondering: outside of some small silly physical violence and mishaps, what was supposed to keep children entertained?

One thing you can count on from this franchise is excellent animation that's so crisp you could almost feel the texture of Manny's fur. The character designs are very expressive and effects like snow and lava look like the genuine article.

I've all but handed the year's best animated film to "Up" and so far, this year's competition hasn't done anything to change my mind. If you're ready for a meltdown, check out "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," but if you want some jokes that aren't prehistoric, you're better off letting this Ice Age defrost.

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

PG, Family, 94 minutes

Director: Carlos Saldanha and Mike Thurmeier

Cast: Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Queen Latifah, Simon Pegg, Josh Peck and Seann William Scott

Rating: Two out of five stars