Ice Age 3: Dine Of The Dawnosaurs

"Proof that we've all been sold the most massive of pups, and led up the garden path by the cinema industry" - Mark Kermode, BBC Radio 5 Live

"It was amazing, and I understood it even though it was my first Ice Age film" - _Joe Mayo (aged

9), BBC Radio 5 Live_

Threequel to Ice Age 2 - the film that (along with Silent Hill) signalled the death of narrative cinema - that took its own place in Mark Kermode's list of cinematic crimes by being the film that confirmed his suspicions about 3D were right: it was nothing to do with a new art, or stopping piracy, or making the viewing experience more immersive - it was all to do with generating extra money.

Having initially stressed that if a film came out in 3D, it was important that it be seen that way (see Meet The Robinsons or Bolt), around the start of 2009 Mark began to form the impression that 3D really wasn't a Good Thing and a gimmick at best. This came amidst a listener backlash about the extra cost of the 3D glasses - something Simon Mayo equated to having to paying extra for a cup in which to hold the coffee you've just bought, rather than see it splash all over the floor. Monsters Versus Aliens was the first film that brought this into focus, but it was the fact that Coraline was so good in 2D, despite a big marketing push from its studio that it be seen in 3D, that really started the needle turning. By the time of Ice Age 3: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs (or Dine Of The Dawnosaurs, after Mark had mangled it during the Box Office Top 10) Mark had concluded that: "3D is not the future, it is the past... it's nothing to do with art, it's nothing to do with artistry, it's nothing to do with an immersive experience - it's to do with a cinema gimmick that we are having to cough up for, and frankly I've had enough."

It was not the last time Mark would trip over a dino-related movie title - see Dilight Twinosaur.

However, Simon Mayo's 9-year-old son Joe, making a guest appearance on the show when it came live from Cropredy, enjoyed it very much, describing it as "amazing". When Mark pushed him - "did you not think, Joe, that the story was all over the shop?" - Joe thought for a moment, and replied, "er... no, not really." In response, Mark summoned his own son, Gabriel, over, urging him to "say it was rubbish." Gabriel did so, but clearly wanted to add something despite being shushed by his father once the word "rubbish" was out of his mouth. Though Mark tried to quickly move on, Gabriel then yelled "I've never seen it!" - thus proving his father had induced him to violate the first rule of film criticism and triggering a welter of listener correspondence about parental (and critical) responsibility...