The Ice Is Melting

Manny the Wooly Mammoth, Diego the Saber Tooth and Sid the Sloth are back and this time, face yet another adversity of nature, thanks to the Scrat’s pursuit of the cursed Acorn.

His obsession for the nut takes him to the core of planet Earth and consequentially causes the Continental Drift. Separated from his family, Manny and his mates are determined to fight all circumstances to come back home and reunite with Ellie and their daughter Peaches. But the difficulties they face aren’t only caused by geographical transformations. They are faced with pirates who use icebergs as ships. The Pirate King, Cap’n Gutt, is an ape who is meant to be a godless creature capable of doing no good. His resemblance to Captain Davy Jones of the Pirates of the Caribbean series is uncanny.

Although all the previous editions of the Ice Age series have been massive successes, Ice Age 4: Continental Drift fails to impress. A franchise which just has to release a movie to give a hit disappoints largely with its latest product. Frankly, the Scrat’s fixation to the Acorn is the one and only interesting element in this edition of the film. The plot structure of all the films is the same, but this film lacks the empathy one felt for the characters in the preceding movies. 

The film appears to be a lengthy feel-good episode of a television serial and that is where it fails. The narrative has a few elements that are fresh and appealing, like the chipmunk army and the siren monsters, but these moments are too few and far between to maintain the audience’s attention. Although the screenplay appears very average for an animated film, some of the visuals manage to get you excited. The 3D is very meticulously designed and wins full points on that account, but the content does not compliment or add anything to the visuals. 

The voice artistes, though, have done a great job. Ray Romano, Denis Leary and John Leguizamo have become household names for the fans of this franchise with their renditions of Manny, Diego and Sid. Jennifer Lopez, who gives voice to Shira – the pirate Saber Tooth, and Peter Dinklage who lends his voice to Cap’n Gutt have also put up a great performance.

To sum it up in an Acorn shell, the film is very average and quite a dull affair, but for the sake of the family audience, especially the ones with small children, this might not be the worst thing to watch. Also, if you are a fan of the series, don’t go in there with a lot of expectations if you don’t wish to be let down. As for the writers of this series, the ice is melting sooner.

Rating: 2 out of 5

Published in DNA After Hrs (Pune) on July 28, 2012