The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild (2022) Review!!!

Synopsis – Possum brothers Crash and Eddie set out to find a place of their own, but find themselves trapped in the Lost World. They are rescued by weasel Buck Wild, and together embark on a mission to save the Lost World from dinosaur domination.

My Take – Amidst a landscape dominated by Disney, Pixar and the arrival of DreamWorks Animation with the massive success of Shrek (2001), Blue Sky Studios (in its debut film) and 20th Century Fox released a considerably small feature called Ice Age, which saw an uptight woolly mammoth, a loudmouthed sloth and a sarcastic saber-toothed tiger form an unlikely friendship as they escorted a human baby home in Paleolithic times.

Delightfully, the film opened to critical acclaim, solid box office numbers and an Oscar nomination for best animated film of 2002. A pop-culture hit enough to launch a franchise that was able to impressively sustain five theatrical sequels, as well as two holiday specials and seven short films.

However, the series also saw a steadily declining critical reception with each succeeding film. And when the fifth film, Ice Age: Collision Course (2016), received the worst reviews, became a commercial disappointment and the lowest-grossing film in both the franchise and Blue Sky‘s filmography, it actively killed the franchise.

Hence, seeing it continue via a sixth entry was a little surprising. Now a part of the Disney/Fox merger, director John C. Donkin’s latest entry in the Ice Age franchise created by the now defunct Blue Sky Studios also happens to be the first chapter to debut on the Disney+ streaming service. With a clear aim to keep the wheels turning in the name of creating further adventures to wow families in the streaming world.

Unsurprisingly, this latest entry just doesn’t hold up. Firstly, not one of the original core voices, Ray Romano, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo, and Queen Latifah have returned, probably because the film shifts focus away from the original stars, to Buck Wild, the one-eyed weasel voiced by Simon Pegg, the only returning voice actor and the twin prankster possum brothers, Crash and Eddie, who were originally voiced by Seann William Scott and Josh Peck. All to create new template that is not at all successful, nor is it backed by an interesting story or animation.

Adding to the fact that it’s more than a little jarring to hear mimicry trying to fill the prints of fondly remembered characters, fans will have a hard time watching this outing. Given the track, one can’t help but wonder if Disney is intentionally sabotaging the IP they acquired in the 20th Century Fox deal.

Set once again in the Paleolithic Ice Age, the story follows Crash (voiced by Vincent Tong) and Eddie (voiced by Aaron Harris), prehistoric possum twins, who decide to leave their herd, which consists of their adoptive woolly mammoth big sister Ellie (voiced by Dominique Jennings), her husband Manny (voiced by Sean Kenin Elias-Reyes), a dim-witted ground sloth Sid (voiced by Jake Green) and a saber-tooth tiger Diego (voiced by Skyler Stone), in the hopes of discovering themselves and live independently.

Soon after, they rip a large crack in the ice surface, sending them into the Lost World, the warm subterranean habitat of the last dinosaurs, where they reconnect with the unhinged English weasel Buck Wild (voiced by Simon Pegg), who along with zorilla Zee (voiced by Justina Machado), is facing off an insurgency from the megalomaniacal triceratops Orson (voiced by Utkarsh Ambudkar), who believes he is entitled to rule over everyone else due to his intellectual superiority.

At best, the script by Ray DeLaurentis, Jim Hecht, and William SchifrinIt is standard heroic children fare that doesn’t rise too far above that specific marker. Even with the ups and downs that the Ice Age films have taken, the series has always been about enduring love and friendship and the importance of those bonds in the face of enormous peril. It’s the formula that’s made the franchise a hit with children and adults alike, and the latest entry absolutely follows that road map.

But unfortunately, Crash and Eddie aren’t gripping enough to keep you hooked for the entirety of the film. With a predictable narrative arc, the plot tries appealing ways to get through them. The late introduction of a new character Zee, the zorilla, holds promise, especially with her wit but doesn’t get much room for development.

Personally, I found the best scenes of the film to be the ones involving Ellie, Manny, Sid, and Django, who are dealing with a sudden change in their herd and are out to search for the possums. These scenes, though, are too few and far between.

Sure the earlier films were never laugh riots, but they could at least rely on the zippy momentum of visual gags. If anything, the animation here interferes with the comedy. The animation varies from impressive textures, fur effects, and lighting to moments of clunky and weightless action seen two to three decades ago.

To be honest, this film is acceptable for younger audiences who will love the simplistic premise and will overlook the film’s flaws. However, older fans of the franchise will surely find this one to be a letdown. It just lacks the charm of the original film.

To make matters worse, the series’ greatest and purest character, the small saber-toothed squirrel named Scrat that lived in constant frantic quest of a single acorn is missing here.

Voice work wise, Simon Pegg, the lone holdover is great as always, however, the rest of the cast, Sean Kenin Elias-Reyes, Dominique Jennings, Vincent Tong, Aaron Harris and Skyler Stone struggle to fit in. Newcomers Utkarsh Ambudkar and Justina Machado at least do well. On the whole, ‘The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild’ is an uninspired entry into a much-loved franchise.