Hate your Gutt’s!

The Ice Age films have been milking the franchise successfully since 2002, so it’s no surprise that this fourth instalment appears to be nothing besides a money making venture.
Delivering the same old animation adventure, Ice Age: Continental Drift has viewers enjoying yet another fun but forgettable journey.

In the first movie, the mammoth Manny, the tiger Diego and the sloth Sid saved a baby, then the trio survived a flood, followed by a battle with dinosaurs and now, 10 years later, the gang take on pirates in an adventure that introduces new characters, over-the-top visuals and enough action to keep the little ones entertained.

Picking up where the third film left off, Manny, voiced by Romano, and his wife Ellie (Queen Latifah) are trying to keep their teenage daughter from mixing with the wrong crowd and stick with her life-long BFF Louis.

However, Manny’s troubles only truly begin when the beloved pre-historic squirrel, Scrat, whose acorn-obsessed antics kick off each Ice Age movie, buries a nut into the ground and ends up mucking around inside the Earth’s core causing a continental divide.

Consequently, the trio, plus Sid’s long lost senile grandmother, are left stranded on an iceberg adrift at sea trying to find their way back home.

They encounter a band of nefarious pirates, run by mean primate captain Gutt (Peter Dinklage) who tries to stop them from getting home (and you know that’s not going to happen).

Along the way, Diego falls into a love-hate romance with a feisty tiger, Shira (Jennifer Lopez) and Sid’s grandmother finds her imaginary pet, a massive whale!

There’s something to be said for revisiting old friends, especially when the colourful characters have been perfected in the previous films. The animal banter provides humour throughout all 88 minutes.

Not to mention, the character of Scrat, (with whom I identify perhaps a little too much) is still providing the chaotic and fun-filled scenes, with his obsession going overboard to the point where he destroys a magical island of acorns to non-existence.

Moreover, what sets this instalment apart from the others is the addition of the character of captain Gutt. The giant ape is the perfect villain and possibly one of the only memorable new characters introduced. He certainly looked like an evil pirate, with crooked teeth and a grey beard, the combination of his gruff and deep voice was perfect. You are hard-pressed to find a more suitable voice in the entire series.

Everything in this movie is told on a young child’s level, from the message being delivered: always stick with your friends and family, to the explanation of the continents shifting – it’s definitely one to take the kids to.

The movie may have been weighed down with an overstretched story but at least Ice Age: Continental Drift still has Scrat. The little squirrel has become the face behind the franchise but I just hope he catches his elusive acorn soon; otherwise I may have to sit through another unmemorable Ice Age 5.

*Showing in Dana Cinema