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.
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