When the fairy-tale-mocking formula was creaking, DreamWorks wisely ended the Shrek franchise after four films. Blue Sky are now on their fifth Ice Age film, showing exactly what the end of that ashy cigarette looks like with Collision Course.
The film follows a whopping 12 characters as a meteor hurtles towards Earth. It’s all Scrat’s fault – as usual – when he accidentally gets shot into space. His acorn hijinks are reliably funny, but you don’t see enough of the little guy anymore.
Buck, the literal one-eyed wonder weasel from Dawn of the Dinosaurs, is the only mammal who knows how to save everyone. His re-introduction is amazing and Simon Pegg’s voice loads the charismatic critter with so much life that it saves the film from being completely dull.
But it doesn’t stop the film from being mostly dull. Manny is trying to manipulate his daughter from moving out of home with her wiggerish fiancé. He’s also in hot water with his wife after he forgot their anniversary. I’m not sure why this is given equal importance to the end-of-the-world scenario or why they’d think kids would latch on to recycled subplots from ‘90s sitcoms, but it sucks the fun right out of the film.
The other characters simply take up space and say bad one-liners. Diego is there to roll his eyes and be sarcastic; his girlfriend is there to be his girlfriend; Crash and Eddie are there to be spastic; Sid’s grandma is there for cheap sass; and Sid himself is there to be pathetic until they throw him a girlfriend.
Had the film given the mic to Buck and Scrat, there could have been something good in this. But Collision Course doesn’t really know – or, perhaps, care – what was gold and what needed to be cut.
‘Ice Age: Collision Course’ Movie Times | 3D Movie Times
Check out the other ‘Ice Age’ films on DVD, Blu-ray and VOD: Ice Age, Ice Age 2: The Meltdown, Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Ice Age 4: Continental Drift
