Ice Age : Continental Drift

ICE AGE : CONTINENTAL DRIFT

Directors : Steve Martino & Mike Thurmeier

Year : 2012

Genre : Animation

Rating : **1/2

   

'Ice Age : Continental Drift' is the 4th movie in the semmingly endless 'Ice Age' series, which follows the shenanigans of 3 friends, Manfred the mammoth, Sid the sloth and Diego the sabre toothed tiger who have to survive numerous cataclysmic events which match actual prehistory, namely the shifting of the Earth's continents and the melting ice on which they live. While the franchise had lost every single atom of charm that had been gained from the hilarious 2002 original with the previous two lifeless films, this installment seems to return to the humour and good nature that made the first movie so endearing. While by no means perfect and made clearly as a contractual agreement, 'Ice Age : Continental Drift' is a huge improvement over both 'Ice Age : The Meltdown' and 'Ice Age : Dawn Of The Dinosaurs' which I found to be very formulaic, unfunny and mind - numbingly dull.

'Ice Age : Continental Drift' begins 14 years after the events of the previous movie 'Dawn Of The Dinosaurs'. The adorable acorn - obsessed squirrel Scrat is still trying to bury his beloved nut and in the process ends up falling into the centre of the earth, spinning on the core and inadvertantely causing the break - up of the tectonic plates. On the surface, the Earth cracks in such a way that Manfred, Diego, Sid and his neurotic grandmother end up stranded on a single piece of ice floating away from the mainland, away from Manfred's family, Ellie and his teenage daughter Peaches. On their journey, while trying to return home, they encounter a group of pirates and other sea creatures who intend on harming both them and the ice they are floting on. 

'Ice Age : Continental Drift' is co-directed by Mike Thurmeier, who had previously co-directed 'Ice Age : Dawn Of The Dinosaurs' and the two movies have very similar comedic styles. While the first two 'Ice Age' movies relied mostly on jokey dialogue and situations, the more recent installments have stuck to a more slapstick approach to the comedy, with characters pulling funny faces, silly noise effects and over-animation on characters which can sometimes become tiresome. This style is mostly seen in the character of Sid, voiced by John Leguizamo who is constantly screaming and getting into ridiculously silly predicaments.  This leads to situations which usually result in him pulling a wild, unrealistic expression while making a strange sound. In the previous two movies, this was used to such an extreme amount, that it became extremely boring to watch, but in 'Ice Age : Continental Drift', the character has been diluted so that he isn't in your face as much, so that when he does end up in a slapstick situation, it is genuinely funny. This can clearly be seen in my favourite scene in the film, where Sid eats a berry which paralyses him, causing his face and body to become as limp as a damp sock. Being a fan of physical slapstick humour in the vein of Monty Python, this really made me laugh like a child. Even though it is a lazy way to get a cheap laugh, it will almost certainly work with me. However, just like the other 'Ice Age' movies, Scrat is the star. His hilarious vignettes are a great way of breaking up the monotony of the movie and to me are the true delights of the franchise.

The voice work is as always brilliant with the regular voices of Manfred, Sid and Diego (Ray Romano, John Leguizamo and Dennis Leary respectively) giving great performances. As well as the regulars, there is a wealth of new characters voiced by celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez as Shira, the female sabre tooth, Wanda Sykes as Sid's hilarious grandmother and most noticably, 'Games Of Thrones's Peter Dinklage as Gutt, the evil pirate captain.

While the humour works and the animation is beautiful, the storyline and character plots are very heavily formulaic and conventional, which makes 'Ice Age : Continental Drift' baggy and pondering. The storyline of Peaches trying to gain independence from her father and explore the world around her reminded of the similar relationship between Simba and Kiara in 'The Lion King II : Simbas Pride'. There is also a love interest for Diego in the form of a white sabre toothed tiger and this character clearly seems to be in the movie just to add enough new material to generate yet another sequel, which would be possibly full of cute baby sabre toothed tigers, a perfect vehicle for cuddly toys and merchandising. The movie as a whole doesn't hold together well, becoming a series of sketches and set pieces rather than a coherent straight storyline. The main anchor of the plot is lost many times throughout the film and it takes a while for the movie to get back to it's main narrative thread, much like the way that the 'Madagascar' series has a habit of doing. While these sketches are funny in places and can entertain children and adults alike, I am sure for the most part,  parents will find 'Ice Age : Continental Drift' a gruelling experience and I would suggest waiting to watch this with your children on DVD or Blu-ray. There is nothing especially cinematic about the film and I am sure, on a large TV, 'Ice Age : Continental Drift' will be a great way of spending rainy days or school holidays together.

Due to the enormous success of 'Ice Age : Continental Drift', I am sure it will not be too long until we see another 'Ice Age' movie in our cinemas.If this does happen, I just hope that the filmmakers realise that less is more with this series, more character development and plot and less sketchy scenes of nothing. 'Ice Age : Continental Drift' is not a movie that will be remembered well, apart from one or two funny lines of dialogue, but as a diverting movie for kids, you could do a lot worse than this. Funny in places, sickingly sweet in others and overall, a good way to spend 90 minutes.

You will like this if you liked : Ice Age Series, Shrek Series