Ice Age 4: Continental Drift (2012)

Directors: Steve Martino, Mike Thurmeier
Starring: Ray Romano, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo, Penelope Cruz, Peter Dinklage, Keke Palmer, Queen Latifah
Certificate: U
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Adventure
Awards: None

I had one thought when going to see Ice Age 4, Will it be like Ice Age 2 (Bad) or Ice Age 3 (Good) - because we all know the series will never make another film as brilliant as the first one. Luckily it's more like Dawn Of The Dinosaurs. The film gets kudos for giving the more annoying characters less screen time. I almost forgot Crash and Eddie were in the film and actually cheered at the part where they looked like they fell to their doom.

Putting the three original characters on their own again was a moment of genius on the writer's part. Sid Manny and Diego are best when away from the colourful and crazy characters from the sequels. Plus we have our first talking villain since Soto in the first one, The pirate monkey Captain Gut (Game Of Thrones's Peter Dinklage) is a great change to the silent villains that have plagued this franchise.

However, there are problems. The story of Manny's daughter Peaches (Palmer) is boring and pointless. The reason I think it was included was to add in pop stars Drake and Nicki Minaj into their voice talent. I can now safely say add these characters to the list of creatures I want to drop into a volcano.

Altogether Ice Age 4 is a good attempt to keep the franchise going. There are a few lines taken from the first film that reminds you how good it was. How about for Ice Age 5, they bring back the kid when he's all grown up. It doesn't even have to be the main part of the story. Just have the kid save the heroes from a predator and then he recognises them. That would be a really deep and touching scene. Basically, If you liked Ice Age 3, you'll like Ice Age 4 as it's more of the wacky colourful humour the series has turned into.

****Good