A relief from darker, grimmer fairy tales

Film review: Ice Age 4: Continental Drift

MANILA, Philippines - At a time when the adventures of superheroes are getting darker and darker and fairy tales are turning grimmer and grimmer, it is a relief to find Ice Age 4: Continental Drift. The latest picture from the popular franchise, this once again brings strong focus to the importance of family and friends in a way that kids, and that includes those impressionable pre-schoolers, can understand.

Ice Age 4 continues the travels of friends from the prehistoric era, Manny, the wooly mammoth, Diego, the sabre-toothed tiger and Sid, the Sloth. They started out 10 years ago, in Ice Age, when they met during a massive migration to escape, what else, but the arrival of the ice age. With rivers beginning to freeze and vegetation dying, all the people and animals went off in search of warmer climes. It was then that they learned about friendship, family and sacrifice. We all felt how much Diego wanted to devour that baby.

Because, the movie made for very good box-office results, there came Ice Age 2: The Meltdown where the melting ice forced them to higher ground where they found other mammoths and most specifically, Ellie, a girlfriend for Manny. Ice Age 3: The Dawn of the Dinosaurs followed. This was where Sid’s longing for his own family led him to kidnap dinosaur eggs that resulted in their having to battle irate dinos in an underground lost world.

Throughout all these there was also Scrat, a sabre-toothed squirrel and his acorn. Scrat was just an incidental character, that the films can do without, but his efforts to get that elusive acorn have proven to be so popular with moviegoers that his part has grown with every movie. He has also starred in his own short films and video games. No one is asking anymore if he has been chasing the same acorn all these years. There’s Scrat, there’s his acorn.

Scrat is here again with that acorn in Ice Age 4: Continental Drift. He plays a really big role and even gets a girlfriend. Because of that acorn he becomes responsible for bringing about the continental drift. That means the splitting of the land mass that resulted in the earth as we know it today. The drift causes Manny, Sid and Diego to be separated from their herd and must now find their way back home. Their piece of earth drifts out to sea. And so this time around the friends’ adventure is set on the ocean.

There they encounter various sea creatures who are pirates. Don’t ask anymore how this could have happened. Pirates in the prehistoric era? The creators of Ice Age have thrown logic out a long time ago. Great business decision as there is not really much that anybody can do in a prehistoric setting. Besides nobody seems to be complaining. So as it is, the characters of Ice Age can go anywhere and do anything.

That is as long as the plot stays close to what the Ice Age franchise seems to have made its advocacy, inculcating positive family values on young moviegoers. Sid has a granny here and Manny and Ellie are raising a daughter. As they cope in their situations is told in simple easy to understand dialogue with bright images in one of the best uses of 3D technology ever seen.

The script chooses to stay away from pop culture references, which are beyond the reach of young children. This I believe was what killed the Shrek franchise. They lost the kids. Not Ice Age whose message will hold true for generations to come. Why do you think Disney’s Snow White remains so watchable after all these years?

This does not mean though that there is nothing pop about Ice Age. The main cast remains the same, Ray Romano as Manny, Denis Leary as Diego and John Leguizamo as Sid. But there are several new characters played by very hip figures whose voices are instantly recognizable and who do a great job of voice acting.

Manny already has Ellie, who is played by Queen Latifah so now Ice Age 4 sets the stage for a love interest for Diego. And she is Jennifer Lopez. It was fun hearing J.Lo’s voice out of a sabre-toothed tiger pirate. Keke Palmer of Disney’s True Jackson VP is Manny’s daughter Peaches. She is sweet on campus heartthrob Ethan played by Drake and her rival is Steffie who has the voice of Nicki Minaj. And there is another girl on mammoth campus, with the voice of Heather Morris of Glee. Oh yes, popular boy band The Wanted sings Chasing The Sun in the soundtrack.

This does not mean though that Ice Age just has to stay the way it is and be viable forever. Some decisions need to be made regarding better writing. Keeping a sitcom feel does not mean lacking depth or intelligence. Besides those fans who have loved the series all these years are also growing up and will need better, more mature entertainment, hopefully with the wholesome portrayal of the values of good friends and family intact.