Directors: Steve Martino & Mike Thurmeier
Voice cast: Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Wanda Sykes, Peter Dinklage, Jennifer Lopez
Plot: Scrat the squirrel inadvertently causes the shifting of the continents, resulting in Manny, Diego, Sid and Sid's granny being separated from the rest of the animals. The group try to find their way back, but standing in their way are a group of pirates, led by the ferocious giant gorilla Captain Gutt.
Review: The first Ice Age came out in 2002. It's hard to believe this franchise has lasted a decade, as it felt like just yesterday when I first saw Manny, Diego and Sid go on an adventure to return a human baby to his father. Oh, and that pesky squirrel too.
But ever since they introduced Ellie and the possums to the herd, the quality went down somewhat. Thankfully, this instalment is actually quite fun, even though those three are still present. Maybe it's because this time, the original three are back together on their own, with only Sid's troublesome granny for company.
The story, which focuses on finding your way back home and reconciliation, hits mostly all the right notes. The filmmakers drive home the point without resorting to sentimental melodrama and instead focuses on the comedy, which Sid and his granny have a lot to provide. Even Ellie and Manny's daughter Peaches are more than tolerable here, and the possums even have a funny moment on screen.
For villains, we have the animal pirates, led by Captain Gutt who is voiced by Game Of Thrones' Peter Dinklage, with Jennifer Lopez (sigh) as female saber cat Shira. Gutt and his crew are certainly better villains than Diego's pack in the first film, providing some quick and cool action sequences battling the herd here. Then there are a group of chipmunk like animals who are only capable of communicating with Sid, with a hilarious tribute to a famous Oscar winning movie (I'll let you see it for yourself).
The downsides for this film do exist though. We have a couple of song and dance routines which felt out of place, since they never needed them before. The subplot involving Peaches' teenage problems are quite unnecessary too, though they do not take up too much time here.
Overall, it's a great instalment to the franchise. If they choose to end it here, it's not a bad idea as it feels like it has come to an end. Besides, what else is Scrat gonna do next? (3.5/5)
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