The 4th instalment in the popular Ice Age series, Ice Age 4: Continental Drift fails to disappoint!
Built around universal themes of family, friendship and coming-of-age, Ice Age 4 explores a major climactic event through powerful 3D visuals and a simple, yet touching storyline. The movie starts with just another day of the protagonists. Manny, the mammoth, is struggling to come to terms with the fact that his daughter is now a teenager and has a crush on a male mammoth. Sid, the sloth, is reunited with his family who had abandoned him earlier in the series. His joy is short-lived when he finds out that they come to meet him only to leave his grandmother in his care.
It is at this juncture that the separation of the continents begins, separating Manny from his family. What follows is a rollercoaster ride of emotions, humour and powerful imagery. The humour element, an absolute must for any animated movie today, is quite well used, leaving the audiences in splits.
Although the 3D visuals are quite good, one wishes that these effects could have been made better use of. There are certain scenes that do not quite fall in place, but yet manage to entertain. The parallel story of Scrat’s obsession with acorns is an extremely entertaining part which has been quite intelligently planned. From Sid’s Granny’s imaginary pet, Precious, to the Captain Gut, the pirate, the new characters introduced are well planned out. The dialogues are excellent with humour added at the right times. Although meant for children, Ice Age is a movie which people of all ages will enjoy.
Overall, Ice Age 4 is an entertaining movie that makes for a compelling watch. The true test of a movie franchise is for it not to get monotonous after a while and Ice Age seems to have passed the test.
I would give the movie 3.5/5 stars.