Ice Age 4: Continental Drift
Steve Martino, Mike Thurmeier
The story: Manny the mammoth (Ray Romano) gets separated from his mate Ellie (Queen Latifah) and daughter Peaches (Keke Palmer) when the unstable land mass breaks apart. Together with his friends Sid the sloth (John Leguizamo) and Diego the sabre- toothed cat (Denis Leary), he has to outwit pirates and survive other dangers to reunite with his family.
Are they running out of ideas for the Ice Age franchise?
In Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006), a flood threatened to inundate the gang’s valley home. In Ice Age 4, it is another natural calamity, another journey for Manny and gang – just as it is in every Ice Age film.
Worse, some of the plot contrivances this time around feel too outlandish even for an animated flick.
Take, for instance, the pirate-ship conceit. A crew led by a giant ape Gutt (Peter Dinklage) terrorise the seas for... what exactly? Amassing booty from talking prehistoric animals?
Equally incongruous and incomprehensible is the appearance of deadly seductive sirens, as the film suddenly riffs on the seafaring adventures of the Greek hero Odysseus.
Clearly, Ice Age 4 is trying too hard, particularly in broadening its appeal to everyone from six to 66.
For the older crowd, the MannyPeaches storyline about an overprotective father connecting with a rebellious daughter is like a family sitcom made over for the animated ice age. It makes sense given Romano’s background in TV comedy (Everybody Loves Raymond, 1996-2005) but it feels too pedestrian to engage.
For the younger crowd, there are the funny faces by Sid and the silly action gags to amuse.
The stunt star-casting does not always work in Ice Age 4, either. While Game Of Thrones star Dinklage snarls and menaces as Gutt, singer Jennifer Lopez just sounds like herself instead of trying to essay the female sabre-toothed cat she voices.
It is left to the opening silent short film, which stars baby Maggie Simpson from TV’s animated first family of dysfunction, to provide some wit and charm.
There is also, of course, the reliable charm of the always-thwarted sabre- toothed squirrel Scrat, whose obsessive hunt for acorns triggers off the continental cataclysm in the first place.
In comparison, the recently released Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (2012) is a smarter and more imaginative sequel which takes more risks in its storytelling and is the richer for it.
Maybe it is time to put this franchise on ice before it goes completely adrift.
(ST)