Ice Age: Continental Drift

Ice Age: Continental Drift is the fourth installment in the beloved series. As expected, the animation is gorgeous and the film is funny. However, ... read more

Ice Age: Continental Drift is the fourth installment in the beloved series. As expected, the animation is gorgeous and the film is funny. However, the story doesnt break new ground and slowly starts beating the drum of hum. It brings back the trio of the supreme extinct: Manny the woolly mammoth is still poofy, Sid the sloth is still goofy and Diego the smilodon is still not doofy (the things you do to make sentences rhyme). This is a film Ice Age fans would definitely enjoy.

Manny (Ray Romano) is separated from his family. The family rifts are brought to the forefront by a continental drift as Mannys daughter, Peaches, nears adolescence. She is making new little mammoth friends and by trying to fit in alienates her best friend Louis. The young lot uses colloquial slang, one even says: How sick was that? (sick=awesome). The father finds it difficult to accept her behavior. There are a few new characters that make this film worth a watch: Sids granny, Shira, the white tigress and Flynn the elephant seal. The sub-plot of Diego and his love interest works. What didnt work for me was the pirate, Captain Gutt. Although convincingly voiced by Peter Dinklage, the character needed serious rewrites. But then if there are pirates, there will have to be sirens. If there are sirens you can forget the negatives. My favorite new addition is the little cutesy rabbit-like things (a bit of research and I believe its a species called Hyrax). I feel every animated film must have little cutesy things. Their communication with Sid is absolutely hilarious. Not to mention the Braveheart homage. There is no way my trip to the cinema for family animation films will be complete if I dont point at the screen and say: I want to keep those things!

The kids will have a lot of fun watching it. Animated films this year, be it The Lorax, Madagascar 3 or even Brave, seem to be aimed at the kids more than the adults. Im not saying they should stop making movies for kids. But they should definitely add more fodder for the adults. Hollywood has done it wonderfully in the past. Im patiently waiting for another animated piece of beauty and I hope they havent reached a stage of complacency.

Ice Age: Continental Drift is indeed overkill. The Shrek series caved in with a fourth film. Madagascar should not have gone for a sequel let alone a third film. But Ice Age should have stopped at three. Although you may argue that it can go further, I would still say one more and then stop. It would be extremely agonizing if they make a film about each tectonic shift planet earth went through. Paleontology and seismological history have been revised, what next?

Sids granny steals the show from Scrat the squirrel. While the previous films garnered great laughs from this character, it was never the mainstay. Here he does become one. This is one of the few instances where you begin to realize that this film is not the high point of the franchise.

I wonder if I would have still come out smiling had it not been for the Scratlantis sequence at the end. Ice Age: Continental Drift is not as brilliant as the third film, not even as good as the first (which is the best). It is better than the second though. This isnt an amazingly appreciative statement but it isnt defamatory either. This is a clear case of a film made to rake in the cash. If the characters didnt already have their own quirks and histories, this film would have absolutely nothing to offer. I hate to say this as a fan of this franchise, and while the film is passable fun, it is also forgettable and mediocre.view less

While we enjoyed the first Ice-Age that came roughly 10 years back, we have been constantly updated with sequels, most of which havent quite live u... read more

While we enjoyed the first Ice-Age that came roughly 10 years back, we have been constantly updated with sequels, most of which havent quite live up to its origin. This week the fourth installment launches with the gang set adrift on an iceberg. Is this pirate battling continental drift worth the ride?
Sadly, this ones a mediocre fare at best albeit with some beautiful 3D on display.

Scrats pursuit of that elusive Acorn lands the team of Manny, Sid & Diego floating away on an iceberg alongwith an additional character, Sids crude yet hilarious granny.
Along the way, they encounter Captain Gut, an iceberg toting pirate who tries to ensure that they dont get back home.

While its short in time, the film doesnt quite have the zing of the first one. The jokes are moldy for most of it(read:slapstick) & I find Granny providing some of the best laughs. Badman Gut seems quite visceral for a easy watch like Ice-Age but thats only good.
That said, there is some beautiful visuals on display as the 3D is juiced to keep stuff coming at you all the time.

To sum it up, Id say the film is a perfect outing for parents with their kids or fans of the series wanting to see what I think, could be the swansong after all. view less

After watching the fourth film in this animated franchise, I strongly believe that the series has long run its course and simply hobbling along on ... read more

After watching the fourth film in this animated franchise, I strongly believe that the series has long run its course and simply hobbling along on the goodwill of kids and fans of the franchise now. Add the 3D gimmick to the mix and you have your extra money guaranteed right there. The story, humour and plot however never seemed to have grown in the past ten years which gives the franchise a serious case of fatigue.

This time around, our furry friends are yet again faced with changing geological equations brought about by the actions of the acorn crazy squirrel, Scrat. Manny the mammoth, Diego the sabre-toothed tiger and Sid the sloth are stranded on a block of ice out on the open seas when they run across a band of pirates led by a monstrous ape called Gutt. The trio want to get back to the main land and Manny in particular to his wife and daughter. So they commodore icebergs as ships, instigate a lemming (or guinea pig) revolt, babysit Sids cranky grandmother and Diego even finds the time to fall in love with a white sabre called Shira.

The humour is mostly juvenile with a rare line or two worth chuckling about. The screening I attended had kids who seemed quite bored of the proceedings onscreen and one little girl who seemed quite terrified of Gutt, even promising to keep her eyes closed when he appeared onscreen. The Lemmings (or guinea pigs) however were super cute and easily the best of the film other than perhaps Scrats little detour to a mythical underwater city towards the end of the film.

The 3D was utterly pointless and distracting while the animation top-notch. The voice-acting though seemed pedestrian even by Peter Dinklage as Gutt.

I think this series has long run its course and its high time we bid them adieu. This movie is for die-hard fans of the series only, even the kids might get bored.
view less

I love animation films for three reasons first, they know exactly how to entertain the audience irrespective of the country theyre in. Second, all... read more

I love animation films for three reasons first, they know exactly how to entertain the audience irrespective of the country theyre in. Second, all animation films are packed with embraceable life lessons which we can blindly accept. Third, they have some adorable characters you can fall in love with. Ice Age series is one of those films to have lived up to its expectation every time it released, including this time.

Since Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs everythings changed in the life Manny, Diego and Sid. Manny is busy raising little peaches whos all grown up and desperate to mingle however theres one little problem like every father Manny too hates to believe his little girl has grown and is ready to go on her own. Sid is handed over the custody of his granny sloth by his long forgotten family who happen to visit him just so that they could ditch the old lady. Diegos life hasnt changed much actually until some 25 minutes in to the film. Amidst all these familial issues, a bigger problem unfolds when Scrat's nutty pursuit of the cursed acorn, which he's been after since the dawn of time, has world-changing consequences a continental drift. The trio is separated from their family by a drifting continent as they embark upon a life changing adventure. Before all hope is lost, Manny and Co. should reunite with their family by defeating a seafaring pirate and his crew. Will get to meet their family or not forms the rest of the story?

This fourth installment in the series, written by Michael Berg and Jason Fuchs, and directed by Steve Martino and Mike Thurmeier, has plenty of laughable moments nicely coupled with some important teachings which I think are of high value. What Ice Age films have been successfully carrying forward unlike other animated features is its purpose to make a difference in the lives of its viewers.

If I were to describe Ice Age 4 in one line then heres what Id say no matter what the one hand you should never let go off is that of your family. Time changes everything in a family. Parents become old and they tend to nag while the children get bigger and they want to be independent, doing things their way. This happens in every household and all we do is just live by it but never attempt to do anything about it. Ice Age 4 in particular beautifully weaves together things like love, friendship and some very important familial values in a story filled with enchanting moments.

This film is no ordinary animated film because it adds value to your life. I like the fact that the writers also touched upon sensitive issue such as abandonment of older folks from family or dumping their responsibility on the weakest in the family. Therefore, at the end of two hours, Ice Age 4 not only entertains you but also gives you lots to take home and ponder over.

The characters have multiplied and it duly elevates the experience and fun. Sloth yet again steals the show with his new found companion, the granny. Mannys role is very similar to most of our fathers in our house doting, over-protective but what I liked about it is towards the end theres a lovely closure given to his role which kind of explains everything.

In essence; Ice Age: Continental Drift is an intelligent humour-filled film that screams out loud, no matter what you never drift away from your family.
view less

I love animation films.......