Ice Age: Continental Drift (July 13, 2012)

There is no reason this film should exist. Upfront, I am not a fan of this franchise. I somehow have watched the previous three films (or at least enough of each that I did not deem it necessary to re-watch them for this set of reviews- perhaps I will for the sake of completion in the future) but I have no specific recollection of ever doing so. The animation for them is well done and the voice actors are top quality. But the plots (aside from the novelty of the original) are essentially rehashes. This film, the fourth, being a prime example of that trend. The premise could have been interesting- the continent is slowly breaking apart and being reshaped into the form we know today, and the prehistorical creatures have to deal with the repercussions of that as their life is irrevocably altered. However, this movie only uses this event as a backdrop to tell another story of Manny, Diego, and the ever-infuriating Sid (along with his senile grandmother) being separated from their family and having to journey to reunite with them. The characters are uninteresting, annoying, and childish. They never grow or mature, being reset every movie for the sake of the plot. There are multiple subplots and going back and forth between them creates a disjointed end product. The villains this go around is a group of pirates that are essentially a bargain bin version of the protagonists. There is no value in watching Ice Age: Continental Drift unless you are part of the dwindling fanbase of this cash cow franchise. Blue Sky has so many other wonderfully original and charming films, such as Epic, Robots, and The Peanut Movie, which should be given the spotlight (or perhaps even sequels of their own) and everyone should seek them out instead of this corporate creation.

Final Rating: 2.5/10