L'Âge de glace 4 : La Dérive des continents

For years I have been a huge fan of the Ice Age series and had been expecting this new movie for months! Needless to say I was counting the days until the release of the movie and the hilarious teasers were really making the waiting difficult ...

I saw it tonight and have to admit that I feel really disappointed ... Was I expecting too much ? We were a group of young adults who grew up with the movies, or at least liked them a lot and we felt let down. The storyline feels a little weak, I thought there would be a lot of adventure and action, as in the 3 previous ones where you don't see how time flies ... This one, if not boring, is too simple, not to mention incredibly predictable. There is no twists and turns. When you think about the first episode, yes, you realize how poor the scenario is in this new one.

I admit there's been a real effort to create an original story that might bring the characters in another world and make them live another adventure, different from the previous ones. I think this part is a total failure. Not to mention the "song" they put in the movie, it was nothing but ridiculous and irrelevant, especially for a movie series as famous as Ice Age. I thought it was unnecessary.

But since I laughed a few times and feel really bad about writing such a "negative" review, I have to admit that some of the scenes were absolutely hilarious and the characters have been kept as funny as they used to be, especially Sid (and his incredible grandmother). It's just a pity that the funny parts are so negligible ... You smile a lot, you laugh sometimes, but certainly not during the whole movie.

Maybe I am too old to appreciate this movie as I should have, as I'm sure the kids will love it and the movie will have a lot of success this summer. I don't wish it the contrary, I just watched it with my not-so-kid-anymore-but-very-nostalgic-eyes and went out of the theater with the feeling that something from before was clearly missing ...

Ice Age: Continental Drift is the fourth installment in the Ice Age series, which was started a decade ago by FOX when they tried their hand at animation again after Titan A.E. became a box office bomb. The series follows a group of quite different prehistoric animals and the plot that it follows has been so far a formulaic "go from point A to B" story.

As the title suggests, Ice Age 4's plot revolves around the separation of continents. The herd is separated and while the original trio goes into an adventure overseas, the "half opossum, half mammoth" family tries to reach a rock bridge to meet up there. The film's animation is fantastic (you could hardly say a mainstream animated movie doesn't have terrific CGI) and backgrounds and water effects are beautiful, but the movie's storytelling is too fast paced and there are too many characters for them to develop while the movie lasts.

If the series is too formulaic what is the appeal of this movie? For anyone who has seen the whole series, you'll be happy to know Diego meets a female saber-tooth on the way and Sid is reunited with his sloth family. Amongst the new characters are a crew of pirates that capture the trio while they explore the ocean and become the main antagonists of the film.

The movie is overall quite worth it to watch with your family, but even the third one (which I didn't like a lot) had a better paced storytelling. New characters, in my opinion, don't really display a lot of personality traits other than Granny Sloth, but it is quite the enjoyable flick I would watch a few times on theaters.

The 3D, by the way, is not really worth it and the movie doesn't make use of it correctly. There were some moments when the background looked it was over the characters and that almost gave me a head ache. If you're taking your family to watch the movie don't waste your money on 3D.

Scrat is at it again. He falls to the center of the earth. As he chase the acorn, he starts rotating the core setting the continents to drift. Manny is overprotective of Peaches as she falls for Ethan. Sid's family accidentally runs into him and dumps Granny with him. Manny, Sid, Diego and Granny get separated from Ellie, Peaches, and Louis when the continents separate. Manny and the gang get captured by pirate Captain Gutt and his crew on his iceberg ship.

Sure it doesn't make sense but I love the addition of the pirates. This is not a franchise that needs to be scientifically correct. The pirates are a fun added bonus in what could have been just another Ice Age road trip. It's like the cast of Ice Age gets thrown into a Pirates of the Caribbean movie. It's silly. It's rip roaring fun for the whole family.

"Two sloths, a mammoth and a saber... You guys are like a start of a bad joke."

I'm not sure if it is my current depression speaking, or maybe I'm just tired of this franchise, but it seems to me that it slowly recedes. Visually, the film is superbly done, it is interesting and cute and holds the attention, but every next sequel is less funny than the previous, and this time not once have I laughed out loud. Still, I can not point on any other flaws, so I'll rate it

7/10

Ice Age: Continental Drift – CATCH IT (B+) What we can say about Ice Age, love it or hate it you will go and watch these crazy fun animals surviving the Ica Age. The first movie was excellent but after that we all know what to expect from Ice Age franchise. And let's be honest so far they have delivered their best. The story may not be that refreshing or something extraordinary but they do manage to make us laugh and involve in their adventures.

The voices by Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Queen Latifah, Seann William Scott, Josh Peck, Jennifer Lopez, Keke Palmer, Peter Dinklage, Wanda Sykes, Heather Morris, Drake and Nicki Minaj.

In the end, I enjoyed Ice Age 4 but just like the previous installment in the end it was little too loud but hey it's a kid's movie so I think it OK.