The fifth in the animated action adventure series that began in 2002, it is once again saber-toothed squirrel Scrat’s epic pursuit of an elusive acorn that drives events in Ice Age: Collision Course. Scrat is catapulted into the universe, bounces off and through planets, pilots a flying saucer and wears a space suit, all the while keeping a keen eye on that infernal nut. While you might admire his persistence, what he doesn’t realise is that he has accidentally set off a series of cosmic events that transform and threaten the Ice Age world. It is when he starts playing pinball with the planets that he inadvertently sends the mother of all asteroids hurtling towards Earth. To save themselves, Sid, Manny, Diego and the rest of the herd must leave their home and embark on a quest for survival. They travel to exotic new lands and encounter a host of colourful characters. Most notable among the former is a cystallised world known as Geotopia.
At the same time, there are Earth-shaking events of an entirely different nature playing out for the gang. Manny and Ellie’s daughter Peaches is getting married and to Manny that’s as unwanted a development as an asteroid landing in his backyard. “The asteroid heading toward earth is the equivalent of Manny’s future son-in-law Julian coming into the mammoth’s life,” says director Michael Thurmeier. Both the feared cosmic collision and Manny and Ellie’s looming “empty nest” have a huge impact on the characters and their world.
Peaches has dropped a bombshell on her parents and Manny sees that as a threat. Co-director Galen Tan Chu says: “She’s not only getting married. She and her soon-to-be hubby Julian are moving away to begin their lives as a couple.” To Manny, no one is good enough for Peaches, especially at a time when the world may be coming to an end. Can Julian protect his daughter? Manny’s doubtful he’s up to the task. The Ice Age films are also love stories: Manny has Ellie, Peaches has Julian, Diego has Shira. Even the crazy brotherly bond between daredevils Crash and Eddie is a kind of love story. But what about Sid the sloth? Sure, he has his pals in the herd, who are like brothers and sisters to Sid. Yet, romantic love has proven elusive, if not impossible. All that changes rather suddenly in chapter five. Sid meets his match in Geotopia, a place in which no-one ages and their guru is a rather quaint llama, known as Shangri-llama.
The other key character in this is Buck, who is Crash and Eddie’s hero. He is the swashbuckling, slightly off-kilter weasel we met in Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaur, who sat out Ice Age: Continental Drift. In this movie it is Buck who breaks the news to his friends that the sky is falling and the world is coming to an end.
I love the fact that the story has moved forward with each episode and the creativity involved in this one is second to none. There are mountains of good humour as well as threats, perils and obstacles to overcome. It is the one-liners and the heart that propels the storyline and has kept the franchise going.
The filmmakers have found just the right mix between focusing on the characters we know and love and introducing new ones (or reintroducing those whom we knew but may not have been in a previous instalment, such as Buck). Each is given their time to shine and we, the audience, remain engaged.
The voice talent again includes Ray Romano as Manny, John Leguizamo as Sid, Denis Leary as Diego, Queen Latifah as Ellie, Jennifer Lopez as Shira. Julian’s vocals are provided by Adam Devine and Keke Palmer is Peaches, while to me Jessie J. stands out as the girl who steals Sid’s heart. She is sassy and sweet and Jessie ensures she quickly makes her mark with the pack.
Michael Wilson, who created the original story and characters in Ice Age and co-wrote the screenplay for the first film is back, along with his co-writer Michael Berg (who also co-wrote the 2009 and 2012 movies in the series). They are joined by Yoni Brenner, whose productions include Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Rio and Rio 2. Brenner has also written song lyrics for all of those movies as well as for this one. The writing is of a consistently high standard in Ice Age: Collision Course and the colour and movement help make this one of the best of breed. Rated G, it scores a 7 out of 10.
Director: Mike Thurmeier, Galen T. Chu
Cast: Adam DeVine, John Leguizamo, Simon Pegg
Release Date: 23 June 2016
Rating: G – Very mild themes and coarse language
Alex First
David Edwards is the editor of The Blurb and a contributor on film and television