Of course, Scrat is not the real hero of the “Ice Age” franchise, his comical exploits serving as a counterpoint to the main action of each film. The real heroes are prehistoric pals Manny the stern and sensible woolly mammoth (voiced by Ray Romano), Diego the sarcastic and agile sabre-toothed cat (voiced by Denis Leary), and Sid the slow-witted and butterfingered sloth (voiced by John Leguizamo). Unlikely as it may seem, this oddball bunch have been close, loyal friends since they met and teamed up in the first “Ice Age,” which was enjoyable entertainment for all the family. Since then, they have survived a world-scale meltdown and a revival of the dinosaur species. Now, in yet another enjoyable adventure, they’re in the middle of the splitting of the Pangaea continent, which means either these characters are ageless or they have at some unseen point discovered a means of time travel.
No matter. The “Ice Age" franchise has never been a reliable source of historical accuracy, and “Continental Drift" is no exception - I strongly suspect that The Wanted’s number-one hit “Chasing the Sun" was available for play at a time when woolly mammoths were throwing pool parties. At times, “Continental Drift" takes the franchise into the realms of fantasy: it is mentioned that unicorns once existed and, most notably, our heroes have a run-in with a rocky island filled with devious Sirens, the mythical sea creatures of Homer’s “The Odyssey.” This scene is inspired, and executed with the franchise’s reputable knack for rib-tickling comedy and visual invention. You’ve never seen Sirens like these before.
You will recall that towards the conclusion of the last installment, “Dawn of the Dinosaurs,” Manny’s wife, Ellie (voiced by Queen Latifa), had a baby girl mammoth called Peaches. Well, Peaches (voiced by Keke Palmer) is now a teenager, and with that naturally comes hormones and rebellion: Peaches develops a crush on local mammoth Ethan (voiced by Drake), who is part of the cool crowd. Manny is most displeased when seeing them together, as any father would be, and the two argue. Immediately after their falling out, the ground beneath their feet begins to quake and crack. The continental drift has begun. Manny, along with Sid and Diego, is separated from his wife and daughter, stuck on an ice raft that drifts off towards the horizon, where a vicious storm awaits.
On the other side, their melting raft is invaded by pirates of several different species, led by the ruthless, crooked-toothed giant ape Captain Gutt (voiced by Peter Dinklage). Gutt’s pirate ship is a gigantic iceberg with towering trees protruding from its deck, acting as masts. Its waving flag is made out of a live badger with a skull and crossbones painted onto its black fur. The iceberg can be steered, though I’m not quite sure I understand the mechanics of such a feat. Gutt requests, nay demands, that Manny and the gang forget their life back home and join his ragtag crew - he does so through a jolly, boastful song and dance number, always a dependable tactic of persuasion.
But Manny and the gang refuse, escape captivity and send Gutt’s ship hurtling to the bottom of the ocean, sailing away on one of its icy leftovers. Reluctantly joining them is sabre-toothed cat Shira (voiced by Jennifer Lopez), Gutt’s first mate who may very well become Diego’s first mate too, if you know what I mean. Ahem. Oh, also joining them is Sid’s cantankerous grandmother (voiced by the delightful Wanda Sykes), who was snoozing away in the inside of a nearby tree attached to the original raft. The “Ice Age” franchise is known for its colourful characters, and Granny fits the bill to a tee: she’s batty, spirited, oblivious, toothless and has a sperm whale best friend named Precious, who may or may not be imaginary.
As our heroes attempt to get back to their crumbling home with Gutt and his crew (whose second ship they ingeniously steal) in hot pursuit, Ellie and Peaches journey to the bridge Manny swore he would meet them at when he returned. They travel with their inter-species herd, which includes Ethan and his partying pals. Ethan asks that Peaches stop seeing her best friend, a neurotic molehog named Lewis (voiced by Josh Gad), who has a crush on Peaches (the biological implications of which are best left unexplored). This part of the plot is much less engaging than Manny and the gang’s accidental seafaring and occasional swashbuckling, but it teaches heartwarming values about loyalty and friendship, and I can’t fault it for that.
The first “Ice Age” was released 10 years ago, a time when computer animated features were just starting to find their feet. Revisit the film, and you may notice that its animation, created by Blue Sky Studios, is (rather aptly) primitive in its design, even when compared to “Shrek” and “Monsters, Inc.,” both released the previous year. A decade on, the technology behind the art of computer animation has evolved by an extraordinary degree, as can be seen in “Continental Drift”: the visuals of the latest entry in the “Ice Age” series are a thing of staggering, richly detailed beauty, comparable to the most recent works of Pixar, the studio always at the forefront of the ever-evolving medium.
Each individual hair on the four woolly legs of Manny the mammoth waves in the wind with startling realism. Scrat the sabre-toothed squirrel jerks and twitches with such fluidity and energy. When characters brawl they have a convincing, weighty physicality to them, and when they communicate and interact the effect is seamless. I usually don’t comment on the look of computer-animated films in much detail unless something about their technique is truly unique - the capabilities of computer animators are simply taken for granted nowadays. But here, I was impressed, and I found myself struck by how far the medium has leapt in the past decade or so. Animators of the digital age, you’ve done good.
As directed by Steve Martino (“Horton Hears a Who!”) and Mike Thurmeier (the previous “Ice Age”), “Continental Drift” is lively, energetic and bounds along at the pace of a sabre-toothed cat. Much like its predecessors (or should I say ancestors?), it is filled with lighthearted action and slapstick comedy, much of which is witty and creative (did you know that mammoths can use their tusks to swordfight?). Its dialogue can be clever, providing for both the younger audience and their parents. “When you drink water through your trunk does it taste like boogers?” Ellie is innocently questioned by a spritely young bird. “Uhh, no,” is her response. “Well, sometimes.” Reader, I laughed.
With a 94-minute runtime, “Ice Age: Continental Drift” passes by quickly, and entertains while it lasts. It made me laugh many more times than I’d care to mention, for I am almost a generation on from the film’s target audience. It does not feature the sturdiest of narratives and it may well prove to be our heroes’ least memorable adventure, but it is a pleasantly amusing watch and, oh boy, it made me laugh. I’m curious to see where the franchise will go from here if 20th Century Fox decide to take it any further. If they do, two things are for certain: historical accuracy will be blissfully ignored, and Scrat will still be tirelessly searching for that cursed acorn.
6/10
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