It’s old-fashioned star power taking on the latest and greatest in animation and 3-D technology, as Public Enemies squares off against Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs in the July Fourth box office battle.
Dawn of the Dinosauras, the third film in the series, opened Wednesday at more than 3,900 theaters. The film, distributed by Fox, is Blue Sky Studio’s first 3-D animated movie, and features returning voice actors Ray Romano, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo and Queen Latifah. The movie will up its screen count Friday to more than 4,000 screens and will play on more than 1,600 3-D ready screens, making it the largest-ever 3-D release.
Reviews have been mixed, with the film getting only a 36 percent positive rating on RottenTomatoes.com. But the positives have come from some of the most respected movie critics in the biz, such as Roger Ebert, who wrote: ‘Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs is the best of the three films about our friends in the inter-species herd of plucky prehistoric heroes. And it involves some of the best use of 3-D I’ve seen in an animated feature.’
Expressing a more common sentiment in Entertainment Weekly, Owen Gleiberman writes the movie is ‘sweet, safe, and ‘ sorry, I have to say it ‘ slightly dull family fun.’
Public Enemies, which revisits the true-life legend of gangster John Dillinger, is aimed squarely at adult audiences. The film, directed by Michael Mann, stars Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Marion Cotillard and opened in more than 3,200 theaters.
The biggest obstacle facing both films’ claim to the holiday weekend crown remains Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The film is expected to remain a top draw through its second weekend, and to add significantly to its already impressive take of more than $400 million worldwide through its first six days of release.
