Ice Age: Collision Course (2016) Review!!!

Synopsis – Manny, Diego, and Sid join up with Buck to fend off a meteor strike that would destroy the world.

My Take – Sequels, sequels, sequels! It seems that the only thing that Hollywood wants to make is a sequel these days, at least in the animation world. And what franchise is a better example of this than Ice Age. Fourteen years ago, the low on IQ animal cast warmed our hearts with an adventure that was fun, funny, and cute. Over a decade later, the adventure still continues, but it has now crossed over into the zone which is downright ridiculous (especially with the last film Continental Drift). Nevertheless, we have the fifth installment dropped onto our lapse mainly the franchise keeps making money. Considering the box office returns on this one (it has bombed in the U.S), I guess its time to end. Keeping low expectations in mind, I was quite surprised to realise that this 5th entry is not as bad as I expected it to be. I guess its no surprise, the franchise remains cute to appeal to the target audience of families. While it is certainly kiddie, it is still somewhat entertaining and funny, and definetly not the worst of the five movies (I think The Meltdown takes that trophy). Taking place four years after the events of Continental Drift, the story follows the sabre-toothed squirrel Scrat (Chris Wedge) whose misadventures in space inadvertently send a large asteroid hurtling towards earth, unbeknownst to the relatively carefree prehistoric mammals living below. The Herd (as the main characters in the franchise are called) are, for the moment, all oblivious to their impending doom and doing their best to live their lives as happily as possible. Peaches (Keke Palmer), the daughter of wooly mammoths Manny and Ellie (Romano and Latifah), is making plans for her marriage to fellow mammoth Julian (Adam DeVine). Manny is having a hard time warming up to the eager-to-please Julian (who calls his future father-in-law “Dad Bro”) and both Manny and Ellie are struggling with the idea of “losing” their only child. It also happens to be Manny and Ellie’s anniversary and Manny (who has forgotten) allows Ellie to believe that a well-timed meteor shower is his gift to her.

That celestial event, however, turns out to be the opening salvo in what could mean the extinction of all life on earth. The resourceful and smarter-than-he-looks one-eyed weasel named Buck (Simon Pegg) discovers and interprets an ancient prophecy carved in stone which reveals that a huge asteroid is coming – and what previous asteroids have done to the earth. With the help of an even smarter weasel named Neil deBuck Weasel (Neil deGrasse Tyson), Buck hatches a plan that might actually save the world, but he’s going to need the help of the rest of The Herd. Besides Manny and his family, others that get involved include saber tooth tiger couple Diego (Denis Leary) and Shira (Jennifer Lopez), lisping lovelorn ground sloth Sid (Leguizamo) and even the irreverent comical opossums Crash & Eddie (Scott and Peck). As they work to carry out their mission, The Herd makes new friends – and new enemies. Living at the location where Buck says the big asteroid is going to strike is a hippy community that includes a pretty sloth named Brooke (Jesse J), a fearless rabbit called Teddy (Michael Strahan) and a pair of “minicorns” named Bubbles and Misty (Lilly Singh), all of whom are led by a self-centered guru called Shangri Llama (Jesse Tyler Ferguson). Meanwhile, three flying dinosaurs (Nick Offerman, Stephanie Beatriz and Max Greenfield) don’t think it’s such a bad thing for all the mammals to perish (thinking that the dinosaurs will be able to simply soar above the destruction) and Scrat is still in space chasing that acorn. This is a pleasant surprise considering this is the fifth film in the franchise. I thought by now the series had run dry, but this one excels on several fronts in terms of how it looks and how much it will make you laugh. The crew continue to stumble, bash, and insult each other in a manner that is kid friendly and entertaining. Your little ones will be laughing in high-pitched delight as Sid is smacked, Scrat is consistently punished, and insults fly through the air in some ridiculous screaming manner. Yep despite the new gags, it certainly feels like an Ice Age Movie. And when the comedy dries down to a trickle, there are those touching moments, well there are those heart warming, morale filled sequences that will may melt your heart. With the seriousness of a cataclysm and so witty characters, Mike Thurmeier and Galen T. Chu recreate a balance between comedy and drama, unbalancing briefly because of Buck. It still is space for moments unique and even memorable, but in a epoch in where is difficult find interesting proposals, this film comes off well rid, despite its reused plot. The teachings are also present, the acceptance of a father to the maturity of his daughter, a young’s independence, over-protection errors and family work are some of the lessons that the movie wants to assert. My favorite character here is of course Scrat who started out as a small character in the first Ice Age film and slowly became a fan favorite and the mascot of the franchise. Scrat lights up the screen every scene he is in. His brand of slapstick humor is more present here than in any other Ice Age film. I even kind of sympathize with this character because he goes through all this trouble just for an acorn. Another character I like is Buck. Simon Pegg‘s talent really shines in his voice over work here. Buck has a big personality and, just like Scrat, has some of the movie’s most memorable laughs. He is in a lot of my favorite sequences.

My favorite part of this film is when Buck tries to find a strategy to save the mammals from disaster. He seeks help from personalities in his mind including Neil deBuck Weasel. However, the biggest thing I had an issue with, was how disproportionate the characters were in this movie. It’s no surprise that as the cast continues to expand, there is less time for each character to make a worthy contribution.The franchise has officially hit that road focusing again on the Mammoths and Scrat and forgoing most of the other characters. Sure Sid and Buck get their fair share, but the other characters are reduced to only a few lines of dialogue and nothing more (I’m talking about your character Jennifer Lopez). Such unbalanced character emphasis is a flaw for me and like many of the characters we need to move on from them rather than pointlessly include them. As mentioned earlier, the movie is family fun, but each installment continues to go deeper into the kiddie pool. Crash and Eddy have been reduced to silly humor that involves mindless banter and getting into fights. Manny’s filter has been set to full power as his adult jokes have been reduced to just straight up bitterness. Even Sid has managed to dumb down his comedy so that is kid friendly. Wanda Sykes‘ edge that we got in the fourth film had flare and sassiness, but they limited that role so much in this installment. Therefore, the adult spectacle of the first Ice Age continues to be lost with each continued sequel. Plus the antagonists of this story, a trio of flying dinosaurs, are fairly weak in their influence or attempt to look bad. While they are a little threatening in the short amount of screen time they receive, they lack a certain menacing feel to them, only supported by how quickly they turn to the ”good side” by the end. However, despite its flaws, the animation is impressive and the voice acting is just brilliant. Ray Romano is awesome as Manny. John Leguizamo is outstanding as Sid. Denis Leary is brilliant as Diego. Simon Pegg is spectacular as Buck. Queen Latifah is good as Ellie. Keke Palmer is superb as Peaches. Adam Devine is endearing as Julian. Wanda Sykes is hilarious as Granny. Seann William Scott & Josh Peck are funny as Crash & Eddie, respectively. Nick Offerman, Max Greenfield & Stephanie Beatriz are adequate as Gavin, Roger & Gertie, respectively. Jennifer Lopez is effective as Shira. Jesse Tyler Ferguson & Jessie J are impressive as Shangri Llama & Brooke, respectively. Chris Wedge is hysterical as Scrat. Looking at the current box office returns and not to friendly response, its unlikely another instalment would ever hit the silver screens again, but considering this film was not half as bad as some reviews have made it out to be, dropping in on Netflix can be a good option for future instalments and spin offs. On the whole, ‘Ice Age: Collision Course’ is surprisingly entertaining. It’s just another Ice Age film, which you’re bound to enjoy especially if you’ve enjoyed any of the other sequels. It has humour, romance and moralistic themes, and is a film that’s enough to entertain the family. ‪