MANILA, Philippines?For too many days last month, the metro?s moviehouses were virtually ?commanded? by the blockbuster hit ?Transformers 3.?

This was great for the film, but a drag for movie buffs like us who, after catching the ?Transformers? flick on its opening day, had to wait for a long time before another movie ?dared? to challenge its near-exclusive domination of the world?s movie screens.

Happily, that challenge was eventually posed by the animated feature ?Ice Age 3,? and we hastened to catch it on its opening day.

Unlikely group

As fans of the film franchise know, ?Ice Age? is about an unlikely group of ice-bound friends: A pair of woolly mammoths, a sloth named Sid, a pair of possums, an ever-hungry squirrel-rat named Scrat, other antic animals, etc.

This third time around, mammoths Manny and Ellie are eagerly expecting the birth of their first baby, so they decide to take things easy for a change. Alas, that doesn?t happen, because they?re soon caught up in an exciting and dangerous adventure in a heretofore undiscovered world underneath the North Pole?s ice cap.

The unexpected adventure is instigated by Sid, the sloth, after he declares himself the ?mother? of three abandoned dinosaur eggs. Not so fast: The real mother makes her enraged appearance, Sid is on the run, and his friends are compelled to rescue him from his underworld prison, where all sorts of gigantic predators abound.

A new character is introduced ? a brash, sassy weasel named Buckminster (Buck for short). He?s a cockney-speaking wheeler-dealer with a lot of braggadocio going for him. He drives his new friends batty with his boastful attitude ? until he helps them out of some really dicey situations before the film?s happy ending.

So, how do our furry friends fare this third time around? The new film turns out to be focused on Sid?s character, who?s given more to do compared to his bosom buddies. This is because the sequel has a ?motherhood? theme, and as the story?s would-be adoptive ?mom,? Sid serves as a natural contrast to Ellie?s pregnancy plot.

Unexpectedly, however, Sid?s subplot is so engaging that it upstages the main plot, especially when the movie follows him to the ice cap?s underworld.

Alas, this is where the storytelling stumbles: The incidents that unfold in this world are visually striking but eventually repetitive, and the viewer?s attention wanders.

Perhaps it?s time to put our woolly, frisky friends out to snowy pasture?

That won?t happen, of course, especially since ?Ice Age 3? has just introduced another new character in the person of ?Scratte,? Scrat?s female counterpart, who launches into a series of mano-a-mano fights with him over possession of the all-important, iconic nut that has become the movie franchise?s symbol for extreme competitiveness and do-or-die survival instinct.

With the arrival of Scratte, however, the competition takes on a decidedly sexy coloration, as the new character casts her spell on Scrat, and fatally clouds his judgment.

Instructively, the Scrat-Scratte interludes aren?t even part of the movie?s plot, and are simply inserted from time to time as some sort of running gag. Unfortunately, the gimmick ends up more like a limping diversion.

?Adventureland?

To be shown at Glorietta 4 and Greenbelt 3 starting July 22, ?Adventureland? is the sweet coming-of-age story of James, a college graduate (Jesse Eisenburg) whose parents are forced to renege on their promise to send him to Europe because they?re broke. Instead, he finds work at a decrepit amusement park called Adventureland. Kristen Stewart (?Twilight?) plays fellow employee Em Lewis, a confused rich girl who is far more sexually advanced than James is, but she too is searching for what her heart really wants.