The most famous pre-historic characters are back, but this time it really could be the end of the world...
Manny (The Mammoth), Diego (The Sabre Toothed Tiger) and Sid (The Sloth), set out on their fourth great adventure, this time as their continent destroys itself and the three friends, are forced to not only for their very survival, but also to save the lives of their family.
Add in Sid's Granny, a rather small iceberg and some rather dastardly, if confused Ice Age pirates and you have the making of their most perilous adventures yet. Will their efforts be enough to halt the ever advancing wall of rock which threatens to destroy their world and all whom they hold dear.
It was bound to happen, but finally the makers of this very popular series have sold out to the commercial prospects that these films could bring and delivered Ice Age 4, which has to be aimed at audiences below the age of 10!
The main characters "Manny" (voice of Ray Romano), "Diego" (voice of Denis Leary) and "Sid" (voice of John Leguizamo) are their same old loveable selves which have brought so much joy to both young and old in the first three films of the series, but the makers have limited their roles and added in a lot of new - less exciting characters to ruin the franchise.
"Ellie"(voice of Queen Latifah) is once again superb, but plays such a tiny role in this film, that she is unable to truly stamp her talent onto this lackluster script. "Peaches"(voice of Keke Palmer), plays probably the major role in this movie and does not do it justice at all. Her teenage troubles are tedious and shallow, and I think it was a mistake to let her character take such a major role. Her on again, off again fixation with "Ethan", (voice of Audrey Graham) is tired and a little sad in places, trying to teach lessons which will be lapped up by kids, but will be yawned at by anyone older. The only highlight here is that "Ethan" really does remind you of a very young Val Kilmer in the rather more famous "Top Gun".
The introduction of the Pirates into the script is an unwanted death knell for the chances of this film being taken seriously, but the role of "Captain Gutt" (Voice of Game of Thrones superstar Peter Dinklage) is one of the few highlights to come from this motley crew. Admittedly they do deliver some decent one liners which do bring a few adult laughs.
"Paul" stars, Nick Frost and Simon Pegg are good as the characters of "Flynn" and "Buck", while Jennifer Lopez is respectable as "Shira". The role of "Granny (voice of Wanda Sykes) is a lovely change from the mundane action of the story, and it would have been a lot better if she had a far larger role.
The film was boring for anybody above the age of 12, the story pedantic and a very long way from the glory days of Ice Age 1-3. The script seemed to be lacking and the characters we have grown to love since their first outing in 2002, just seemed flat. I did not enjoy this film at all, but the hordes of 5-7 year olds who invaded the cinema absolutely loved it. Take the family to see this one, they will be talking about it for days.
For serious movie-goers this is a big let down, but keep an eye out for the Simpsons cartoon before the start of the film which was a real treat.
3.5/10
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