Ice Age: Continental Drift Reviews

10 years after ‘Ice Age’ was released, they came up again with another sequel and guess what? It was once again a huge success. Even though all the other releases produced by Blue Sky are slightly underperforming (with the notable exception of ‘Rio’), those ‘Ice Ages’ flick make an incredible amount of money. Personally, I really liked the first installment. Indeed, it was rather simple, but still quite fun and the animation was pretty nice. Above all, there was Scrat, one of the most hilarious animated character I have ever seen. Unfortunately, I have never really cared about the sequels and this one was not an exception. One funny thing though, something I didn’t really pay attention while watching the movie itself was the massive cast. Indeed, check it out : Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary , Queen Latifah, Seann William Scott, Peter Dinklage, Nick Frost, Patrick Stewart, Jennifer Lopez, Nicki Minaj, Rebel Wilson, Josh Peck and even Alain Chabat! It seems as if every single small character was voiced by some notable actor or celebrity. A part from that, Scrat was fun as usual but I didn’t care much about the whole plot, I’m afraid. To conclude, even though I think my rating might be slightly generous, I guess it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

It has been approximately a decade since the Ice Age franchise by Blue Sky Studios & 20th Century Fox was first introduced and, thus, went off to a flying start. The series continued to awe and entertain audiences in 2006 and 2009 following sequels that concluded a delightful and heartwarming trilogy. However, less than a year after Dawn Of The Dinosaurs hit the screens, a new fourth instalment was announced. Before this release, there were a number of things to consider about Continental Drift. Fourth instalments are not usually well-received by critics, particularly in this era, and after how its predecessor concluded, another film perhaps was not an essential addition. With this in mind, Ice Age: Continental Drift was, as predicted, an almost completely pointless film that lacked the majority of qualities that its predecessors provided so marvelously.


Carlos Saldanha, a director of the former Ice Age films, dropped out entirely from Ice Age: Continental Drift and was replaced by both Mike Thurmeier, who Saldanha had collaborated with on Dawn Of The Dinosaurs, and Steve Martino, co-director of Horton Hears A Who!. Obviously, the animated effects are out of this world and it was absolutely beautifully filmed, but there were so many weaknesses that it suffered from. Out of the four thus far, Continental Drift is undoubtedly the most predictable as we almost immediately know within 5 minutes of what is going to happen. Finally, what was most disappointing about this was that it lacked all of the laugh-out-loud jokes that we had experienced in the past and the charm and warmth of the characters which have put smiles on our faces.


Once again, the performers of the main characters reprise their roles. Ray Romano has given mixed voice-performances as primary protagonist Manny the mammoth, but there was nothing new he bought to the table in this one. John Leguizamo easily performs the best as Sid, the clumsy, wacky but well-intention sloth. Sid, who is a very close equivalence to Donkey in the Shrek franchise, was not the same character that made us cry with laughter in the three predecessors. Denis Leary reprises as the soft-natured but sensible sabre-toothed tiger Diego and Queen Latifah, Seann William Scott and Josh Peck also return but are more cameo appearances than supporting. Of course, the sub-plot featuring Scrat, a sabre-toothed squirrel, who is still in pursuit of his beloved acorn but all of the catastrophes continue to prevent him from getting it. Unfortunately, even Scrat was not very funny. It is dying down now and is becoming less humorous because it is the same old time and time again.


Like most animated sequels, particularly antagonists and supporting characters, another group of actors replace the ones in the predecessors. Peter Dinklage portrayed main villain Captain Gutt, a prehistoric ape known as Gigantopithecus. Gutt is a pirate captain and his crew include prehistoric species of rabbit, kangaroo and a sabre-toothed cat. Gutt is quite possible one of the most unrealistic family villains of all time. He was not a tremendous threat and there was no background detailing the nature of his character. The whole animal-pirates concept of the story and the iceberg-ships were ridiculous and just by observing this, certain pieces that were taken from the Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise are easily noticeable. Unfortunately, the makers of the film just mixed what could’ve been an interesting story (only the continental drift) and the extremely likeable and heartwarming key characters with a very weak, lazy and poorly developed clan of newbies.


Overall, Ice Age: Continental Drift was, as expected, a rather weak, meaningless and at times chaotic fourth instalment in the franchise that is perhaps the runny and sloppy icing on the cake. There are franchises out there that are adapted into a beginning, middle and end that extends throughout film after film. Yet it is a series like Ice Age that needlessly continues and is fading away through repetition and irrelevance. At this rate, we could be in for more future sequels but if this is to be the last film in the franchise, it has concluded very poorly and it deserved so much more.

"No matter how long it takes, I will find you!"

Considering that 2009's Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs soared at the box office to become one of the highest grossing animated films in history, Ice Age 4 was inevitable. But the question looms: is there anything more that this franchise can offer with a fourth entry, a decade after the first Ice Age was released? The answer, alas, is no. Fox's Blue Sky genuinely tried to make a good movie with the first Ice Age since they needed to compete with Pixar and DreamWorks. Now that the Ice Age brand has been established and quality is no longer a concern, it seems nobody was committed to making a great movie with Continental Drift. As a result, it's not as bright, bubbly or witty as the movie which spawned it. It's an uninspiring continuation of a series sputtering on life support which hasn't been genuinely good in 10 years. It should be energetic and vibrant, yet it's almost completely flat, feeling more like a rote straight-to-DVD effort than a majestic theatrical movie.

As the film opens, ubiquitous sabre-toothed squirrel Scrat (Wedge) is still in pursuit of his beloved acorn, and his antics directly contribute to the titular tectonic event. With land being torn apart and the continents being formed, Manny (Romano), Diego (Leary) and Sid (Leguizamo) are separated from their herd, stranded in the ocean on a small iceberg. As they try to navigate a path home, the trio wind up battling the forces of mother nature on top of encountering a pirate ship captained by the malevolent Captain Gutt (Dinklage).

Written by newcomer Jason Fuchs and franchise veteran Michael Berg, Ice Age: Continental Drift slavishly follows the same formula of its predecessors: an event tears the characters apart and they face great adversity while trying to get home. Along the way, the characters learn a thing or two, and broken bonds are fixed. It's lazy, by-the-numbers filmmaking, and the script lacks the energy and wit to compensate for its narrative conventionality. Naturally, the story proper is sporadically interrupted by small segments spotlighting Scrat as he engages in his trademark acorn-related slapstick. Though Scrat's antics were spoiled in the trailers, they display the most amount of visual wit and inventiveness, serving to highlight just how unimaginative everything else is. The only other saving grace of Continental Drift is a pack of chipmunks who show up all-too-briefly. Aside from this, the flick is a lifeless slog which rarely emerges from its cinematic coma. The jokes are mostly flat and unremarkable, the banter is merely perfunctory, and the plot runs out of steam way before the climax. Worse, the "family is important" messages are hackneyed, and the problems of Manny's daughter Peaches (Palmer) seem to have been lifted from an after-school special.

At the very least, Continental Drift is impressive from a technical perspective. When Ice Age first hit cinemas in 2002, its CGI animation looked second-rate compared to Pixar and DreamWorks. But not anymore; the animation here is superb, resulting in the most visually satisfying instalment of the series. The water effects look especially photorealistic, and every hair is astonishingly rendered to make the characters look alive. (For the record, the incredible detail is more palpable in 3-D, but the 3-D presentation as a whole is overly unremarkable.) But while Continental Drift is a somewhat easy watch thanks to its visually succulent nature, there's no getting around the lack of intelligence and momentum. Ironically, last year's Ice Age Christmas special carried equally sumptuous animation, but its visual opulence was supplemented with genuine laughs and creativity; stuff that's lacking in Continental Drift. Ironically, too, the Simpsons short attached to this movie is endearing, smart, subtle and witty - precisely the things that Continental Drift is not.

It doesn't help that the protagonists have become stale and boring. Everyone was clearly operating on autopilot here, as it seems that none of the voice actors put much heart or effort into their performances. The only interesting characters here are the pirates. Led by the refreshingly sinister Captain Gutt (voiced with relish by the reliable Peter Dinklage), the ragtag team of elephant seals, kangaroos and prehistoric rabbits (Nick Frost even lends his voice here) are far more interesting than Manny, Sid and Diego. An entire movie centring on these colourful sea rats would be more enticing than an Ice Age 5. Considering all the terrific names in the cast - including Wanda Sykes, Patrick Stewart, Seann William Scott, Josh Peck and Jennifer Lopez - it's heartbreaking that all of this talent wasn't matched to something wittier or more heartfelt.

With its disheartening belly-laugh deficiency, it seems like nobody except the animators put much effort into Ice Age: Continental Drift. As a result, it has the feel of an arbitrary sequel that, given the last film's $900 million box office gross, it absolutely is. Kids with low standards may get a bit of a laugh, and it's harmless enough with lots of vivid colours, but adults have come to expect better from their family entertainment. Even the fourth Shrek film was more fun that this. Ice Age started as something original and creative, but it's time for this series to become extinct.

5.1/10

Well Well Well, When the rest the world is waiting the granfd opening of the movie on 13th July 2012, when it is likely to hit the jackpot. Ice Age : Continental Drift released here on 29th June 2012. Watched the movie with my nephew and niece yesterday in 3D at attrium. The whole episode was a great fun. So be reay for the cool movie of this summer.

Ice Age : Continental Drift is a family affair when 2 billions year ago, an earth shattering event has changed ever thing, yes the continental drift. The team to the Ice Age, Manny, Diego, and Sid embark upon another adventure after their continent is set adrift, this not only for themselves but for increased members of their families as well.

Facing the separation of the continents, which results in them being torn away from their homes by a seismic shift and set adrift on an iceberg. Using an iceberg as a ship, they encounter sea creatures and battle pirates as they explore a new world.

Ice Age: Continental Drift is a fun and colourful film, which like all of the previous films maintains the same moral messages about the importance of friendship.