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Ice Age: Continental Drift2012 | 88 min | PG | 2.39:1
I don’t think anyone who caught the original “Ice Age” back in 2002 thought there would be a fourth installment a decade later. It’s quite an achievement for any franchise, yet the strain of invention wears heavily on “Ice Age: Continental Divide.” While providing moderate charms, expectedly inviting voice work, and two sizable laughs, it appears the producers are out of good ideas for this third sequel. While the last installment, 2009’s “Dawn of the Dinosaurs,” took great liberties with history to cook up a dilemma for our prehistoric heroes, “Continental Drift” doesn’t share the same passion, slapping together an unimaginative tale of pirates and parenting to keep the series sliding along. 
A harried father trying to keep daughter Peaches (voiced by Keke Palmer) out of boy trouble as she enters her teen years, Manny (Ray Romano) is exasperated, kept in check by wife Ellie (Queen Latifah). When the Earth begins to shift in a radical manner (possibly due to the nut-chasing efforts of squirrel Scrat), Manny, Diego (Denis Leary), and Sid (John Leguizamo) are separated from the mammoth family, with Manny vowing to return as the gang floats out to sea on an ice floe. Panicked, Manny scrambles to locate land and reunite with his loved ones, only to find himself blocked by Captain Gutt (a miscast Peter Dinklage) and his pirate band of goons (including Rebel Wilson, Aziz Ansari, and Nick Frost). Looking to escape, Diego instead falls in love with one of Gutt’s enforcers, Shira (Jennifer Lopez), complicating their plans. Back on dry land, Peaches tries to catch the attention of popular mammoth Ethan (Drake), only to betray her best friend, molehog Louis (Josh Gad), on the path to stable ground. In a bit of a creative shake-up, longtime franchise director Carlos Saldanha has stepped aside for “Continental Drift,” passing full control to Steve Martino and Michael Thurmeier. The shift in leadership takes the new “Ice Age” is a slightly different direction, stripping away the community element molded over the last two films to bring the story back to the misadventures of Manny, Diego, and Sid: the core trio of mischief. It’s a simplification the series doesn’t need, with “Dawn of the Dinosaurs” managing numerous creatures and comedic speeds quite well. While parental concerns factor into the story, the majority of the picture remains with our three heroes and their frantic quest to ditch their floating ice prison and return home during a chaotic time of relocation. 
The pirate angle of “Continental Divide” doesn’t have the comedic flair the filmmakers intend, with Captain Gutt a flavorless villain who seems superfluous to the trauma at hand. Perhaps it’s pirate fatigue, after a decade of Johnny Depp’s iconic work as Jack Sparrow and last spring’s winning “Pirates! A Band of Misfits,” yet the character is more of a creaky plot device than a true spoiler for the pals, used to bring instant novelty to a stale concept, along with a cast of crewmates that can easily be filled with celebrity voices. More interesting is the titular event, which causes enormous destruction all over the globe, keeping the animals on the move. While that’s been the plot for all of the “Ice Age” movies, moving day works more efficiently than Captain Gutt’s shenanigans, which dam up narrative flow. Also deflating is the character of Peaches, who’s imagined as a typical teen girl struggling to find her place between overprotective parents and newfound male interests. While energetically voiced by Palmer, the peer pressure melodramatics with the adolescent mammoth and rejected pal Louis are woefully generic, bringing the second act to a full stop. Thankfully, the “Ice Age” sense of humor remains intact, with Leguizamo once again stealing the film as the dim but affable Sid the Sloth. Put in charge of his senile grandmother (Wanda Sykes), Sid keeps the silliness fluid through the picture, also securing the feature’s largest laugh with a throwaway line concerning the ridiculousness of the “Dawn of the Dinosaurs” plot. It’s a knowing jab, revealing a sharp sense of humor I wish the script indulged more. 
Belaboring Captain Gutt’s role as an unrelenting antagonist, “Continental Drift” gets a little noisy to secure a grand finale, weakening the fun factor the last two movies managed to sustain with little noticeable sweat. The new film has its merits, and it’s always entertaining to see Sid, Manny, and Diego work out their frustrations and defective efforts of teamwork, but there’s just no spark to the proceedings this time around, with the screenwriting coming off lazy after the last picture racked up franchise-best box office returns. “Ice Age: Continental Drift,” while offering a handful of pleasurable moments, feels like more of a pause than a true sequel, leaving hope that the producers will be able to steer the franchise back to more fertile creative ground before extinction finally arrives. Starring: Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Queen Latifah, Seann William Scott, Josh Peck Directors: Steve Martino, Mike Thurmeier » See full cast & crew |
 
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