The Ice Age gang is back for their fourth installment. Manny (Ray Romano) Diego (Dennis Leary) and Sid (John Leguizamo) have their paws full as they deal with massive Earth changes that break apart their homes.
Separated from their friends and families, adrift on a massive glacier, they not only have to find their way home again, they must also fend off pirates that are cruelly ruling the seas.
We say, “See it if you’ve seen the other three.”
TAYLOR: My wife and I had the pleasure of taking my friend’s daughters to the show: Abby Nitchie, who just turned 10 and Kaia Nitchie who is 11. They both loved the film, laughed out loud several times and thought it was the best Ice Age yet.
HOWE: I will agree with them, it is the best Ice Age movie yet, although this is the first one I have seen. I took my little boy who is four and what I liked for someone that age is that there were lots of visual jokes that he could understand. For me the little rat type squirrel (Scrat) was the highlight of the film. He reminds me of Wile E. Coyote in the roadrunner cartoons, where everything he does goes horrible wrong.
TAYLOR: The biggest laughs we’re slapstick related, particularly in the middle of the film when Sid the sloth became paralyzed during an escape that required him being tossed around like a rag doll. Scrat also kept the comedy going.Whenever things took a dangerous or sad turn, he’d come along and do some falls. However, there are also some pretty good one liners in the movie, mostly handed out by Sid’s Granny, who is along for the ride. Both Abby and Kaia agreed that she was hilarious.
HOWE: Getting two popular music stars, Nicki Minaj and Drake, involved was a good marketing move by the producers. The only downside was there weren’t enough songs. When you have the likes of J-Lo and Queen Latifah involved, they should have exploited the chance to cash in on a dancey soundtrack too.
TAYLOR: I’m glad there wasn’t a bunch of songs. There were many singers’ voices in the film, who never really got the chance to sing. Maybe they’re cheaper than actors? At any rate, there is one song in the film and then a theme tune at the end.
HOWE: I just wonder, seeing how this is part four in the franchise, how much further can they take it? Hopefully it goes extinct now while it’s on a high and not go down the Madagascar route, which went from good to hmmmm to I wish this was over.
TAYLOR: Although a tidy tale about friendship and family, this movie is about having fun and being funny. It’s a good one for the kids and it won’t bother their parents, either. There was a lot of laughter in the audience. I say it succeeds in its simplicity.
Taylor gives Ice Age 4: Continental Drift 3 badger flags out of 5.
Howe gives it 2.5 acorns out of 5.
The feature is currently playing at the Galaxy Cinemas in Vernon.
–– Brian Taylor and Peter Howe are movie critics living in Vernon, B.C.
