Directed by Steve Martino and Mike
Thurmeier.
2012. Rated PG, 88 minutes.
Cast:
Ray Romano
Peter Dinklage
Josh Peck
Our most beloved prehistoric squirrel, Skrat, has finally
gone and done it. His magnificent chase of that ever elusive nut has improbably
led him to the Earth’s core. This sets off a chain reaction causing the surface
above to split into what we now know as the seven continents. This parting of
the land separates woolly mammoth Manny (Romano) from his wife Ellie (Latifah)
and their now teenage daughter Peaches (Palmer). He finds himself out to sea on
a block of ice with his trusty and familiar cohorts, Diego (Leary), the
saber-toothed tiger, and Sid (Leguizamo) the sloth. Also along for the ride is
Sid’s grandmother, Granny (Sykes). Manny trying to get back to his family as
they try to reach safety ensues. And the squirrel chasing that nut.
To ensure getting the family back together is no easy task,
there must be a villain. This one is Captain Gutt (Dinklage), an ape/pirate who
runs a scurvy crew. The most important of the bunch is his first-mate Shira
(Lopez). She’s a saber-toothed tiger and love interest to Diego. J-Lo handles
the character capably. Still, Gutt stands out as a fun bad guy. Dinklage voices
him excellently with a mean streak just enough to be a little scary to the youngest viewers. Gutt also provides us some of the movie’s best visuals just
by swinging around as apes are wont to do. He also has a bit of magnetism about
him. Helping in this regard is the fact that he’d be perfectly at home as the
villain in the next Pirates of the Caribbean flick.
Speaking of PotC it is but one of the
movies CD pays homage to. Most notable of these is
Braveheart as the movie has lots of fun with that. It even
makes fun of itself from time to time. Thankfully, it does so in a manner
allowing it to avoid becoming self-parody. Just a wink and a nod letting us
know it understands that much of what’s happened over the course of the series isn't historically or chronologically accurate.
Liberties with history aside, the main point of these films
is to have fun. Of course, the not-so-subtle message in all of them is that we
can all get along despite our differences. Even the bad guys are a collection
of numerous species cooperating on a task. Once again, the lesson comes through
loud and clear. The added layer is our concentration on inter-generational
relationships withing the family. It’s nothing groundbreaking but still nicely
done.
The Ice Age franchise has found a nice
niche for itself. They aren't truly great movies like the Toy Story films, but they’re certainly a cut above most of the dreck
passing for children’s entertainment. Each installment, Continental
Drift included, is a fun adventure that manages to inject new
colorful characters into our cast of familiar faces without upsetting the
dynamics. This fits nicely into the canon.
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