(5/10)
It's been a family tradition since the beginning to see the Ice Age movies in theaters, but this one seems to speak for the rest with it's recycled material and more juvenile material.
PLOT:When the continents start splitting apart and floating away (due to a clever turn-of-events involving Scrat), Manny (Ray Romano), Sid (John Leguizamo), and Deigo (Denis Leary) are separated from the main strip of land via iceberg and must get back to the mainland where Manny's family, including teenage Peaches (Keke Palmer), and the rest of the ice age animals are. However, there are many dangers that are that rush things, including a wall moving to cover the mainland and a gang of animal-pirates led by a yeti-like monkey (Peter Dinklage). It's a good plot executed decently.
VOICES:The voice acting in this installment was overall pretty good. The usual leads were their usual selves, but didn't seem to add anything new to the series. However, the new faces seemed to do a pretty great job with their roles. With that being said, the shiners are Ray Romano as Manny, John Leguizamo as Sid, Sean William Scott as Crash, Josh Peck as Eddie, Jennifer Lopez as Shira, Peter Dinklage as Captain Gutt, Wanda Sykes as Sid's grandmother, and Keke Palmer as Peaches, with honorable mentions to Drake as Ethan, Nicki Manaj as Steffie, and Aziz Ansari as Squint, not to mention a cameo by Simon Pegg as Buck. I believe the voice of Dinklage worked very well as the voice of the villain. I also believe this was one of Wanda Sykes' best voice roles to date. Every line she said made someone in the crowd laugh, me included. Strange enough, I believe Drake and Nicki's characters fit their personalites quite well.
SCORE:The score was mainly for mood done by the usual John Powell with a couple well-placed song and a cheesy, new song at the end about family by all the characters. The soundtrack overall was just ok.
ANIMATION:I saw the 2-D version of this, so don't expect me to talk about how "stunning the 3-D was." The animation has improved a good bit compared to the past few, but I believe it almost, if not, ties with the third.
OTHER CONTENT:This installment of the Ice Age series isn't as good as the previous ones in my opinion. Most of the material is recycled from the past three and some of the new material is even more juvenile than the past few. However, this movie did have s few jokes that worked and some that were pretty clever, specifically the whole beginning sequence involving Scrat. I also did appreciate the underlying meaning of family, being there for a friend you love more than a friend, and choosing the right crowd to hang out with. I could relate pretty well.
OVERALL,an alright Ice Age movie with a decently-executed plot, pretty good voice cast with a great villain and Sykes' best role, ok soundtrack, improved animation, and recycled and more juvenile material, but it did have a few working jokes that were clever and worked and a good underlying message I could relate to.
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