ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT
US, 2012, 88 minutes, Colour.
Voices of: Ray Romano, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo, Peter Dinklage Nick Frost, Queen Latifah, Josh Peck, Simon Pegg, Seann William Scott, Jennifer Lopez, Keke Palmer, Patrick Stewart, Wanda Sykes, Alan Tudyk, Rebel Wilson.
Directed by Steve Martino, Mike Thurmeier.
It’s a decade since we were first introduced to the everlasting nut-seeking Scrat (or even before because we got to like him – feel sorry for him – in several promos and trailers). Ice Age was released in 2002. The second film (and a game) in 2006. The third in 2009. Then a television short in 2011. And, here we are again. Ice Age has become part of family movie culture and of cinema animation.
And, Scrat is at it again. But, glad to say, he has more screen time than before. He gets to reappear throughout the film. And, at the end. His nut-avarice seems to be the cause of Atlantis sinking beneath the Atlantic Ocean, a piece of the mythology that we never realized before!
However, we are also soon introduced to a motley collection of prehistoric animals who have become friends – to littlies and oldies alike. They get to do some typical action so we are back in familiar territory with familiar characters. And the voices that we are know are back again (with shots of the voice talent to be seen in the final credits). Ray Romano is the ever-sturdy mammoth leader, Manny. Diego the sabre-toothed tiger is Denis Leary. John Leguizamo and Sid the Sloth are as ditsy as ever. And, there are some new voices. Peter Dinklage is most welcome as the ape pirate chief, Captain Gutt, Jennifer Lopez as a female sabre-toothed tiger in his crew, Wanda Sykes as Sid’s potty grandmother. Even Patrick Stewart turns up at the end as Ariscratle, showing Scrat around Atlantis. There are lots of American and British talent as the animals and the pirates.
The story is a variation on what we have seen before. But, that doesn’t matter much because the formula was a good one. There are the usual dangers of the Ice Age, glaciers splitting, mountains crumbling – though we are shown just how Australia and Africa were the result of all these rumblings. And, then a trek.
When Manny, Diego, Sid and Granny are separated from the rest of the herd, adrift on an iceberg, Manny is determined to find his wife and daughter (with whom he has been having teenage problems about going out and getting home late) and lead his little band home. The menace this time is the pirate gang, a menacing monkey captain voiced by Peter Dinklage, a scraggly lot except for a very fat seal, but enough to cause lots of mayhem and set up battles and escapes.
Formula, but very agreeable.
And the formula seems to work for young audiences as well as older audiences. To think that the young audience which enjoyed Ice Age is now entering the teens! I hope they enjoy this one and don’t look down on the little brothers and sisters who will be laughing and excited.
1. The popularity of the series? Characters, the Ice Age world, prehistory? Humour, venture? The parallel of the animal world with humans?
2. The animation, the ice age look, the mammoths, all the animals, the remnant to the cataclysm, disruption, splits and the earth, mountains rising? The icebergs, the sea, drifting? The score? The songs? Jaunty and happy?
3. The introduction to Scrat, the tone, the comedy, the acorns, the earth splitting, his recurring throughout the film, his character, the quest for the acorns, in all the adventures, in the sea, the cliffs, the map in the shell? Underwater? His arriving in at Atlantis, the explanation, is causing the hole, the recreation of ancient, Greece, monuments, philosophers, the statue – and the sinking of Atlantis?
4. The familiar characters, welcomed? Manny and his wife, Peaches, his daughter, her rebellion? Her small protector and his gallantry? Diego, the Sabre tiger, his role in the community? Sid, the sloth, his family arriving, having rejected him, bringing the grandmother, abandoning her? The grandmother, losing her teeth, cranky, part of the adventure? The rabbits, the squirrels and other creatures?
5. The splitting of the earth, the separation of the two sides, the mother and Peaches on one side, Manny and Diego and the others on the other? The trek of the mother, the daughter, the other characters, Peaches falling out with the other girl mammoths, the peer pressure and their snobbery?
6. Manny and Diego and Sid on the iceberg, with the grandmother? Her taking a bath, falling off the berg, being rescued? The whale, making friends with it, the help of the whale and creatures going inside? Going to sea, surviving?
7. The Pirates, the captain, the monkey, his crew, the range of types, the sweet tiger, first mate? The action, the jokes about pirates, the elaborate fights, Manny and co winning? The captain, vindictive, his return, his being trapped?
8. The island, the tiger running away, her betrayal, the consequences for herself and the captain? The small creatures, echoes of Braveheart and the warpaint, their attack, on leaves, leaping over the enemy?
9. The happy reunion, the captain still taking hostages? The devices to overcome him? The voyage, the transformation and everyone? The parents being less protective and wanting the children to have freedom? Acceptance? The tiger and Diego’s experience of life? Sid and his heroics, the grandmother?
10. Ready for another sequel?
