Movie Review- Jackie K Cooper
"Ice Age: Collision Course" (20th Century Fox)
"Ice Age: Collision Course" is the latest in the "Ice Age" series of movies. It all began in 2002 and "Collision Course" is the fifth installment. The story of Manny the Mammoth, Sid the Sloth and Diego the Saber Toothed Tiger has had a good run but it seems with this new movie the magic and mirth have reached their final stages.
The film opens with Scrat once again trying to take possession of a huge acorn. This time out he follows it into a spaceship which takes flight and carries him into outer space. Generally Scrat and his search for an acorn take place in a short piece before the main movie and/or after the ending of the film. This time his story is incorporated into the full movie as his spaceship causes some of the events that send a meteor hurtling towards earth. Each time the film cuts to Scrat and his story it disrupts the main plot.
Buck, a weasel voiced by Simon Pegg, is the one who tells Manny (Ray Romano) and the rest of "the herd" about an upcoming apocalyptic event. He also devises a plan as to how they can all possibly be saved. The movie spends an inordinate amount of time getting to this final chapter.
The animation in the movie is rather flat and the storyline seems forced and stretched. The voices used to bring the characters to life are very good with Romano again being the standout talent. Queen Latifah is calm and loving as Ellie, Manny's wife, while Keke Palmer gives angst to Peaches, their daughter.
Diego (Denis Leary) gets short shrift in this movie while Sid (John Leguizamo) is allowed to run wild. Jennifer Lopez and Adam Devine are along for the ride as the voices of Shira, Diego's wife, and Julian, Peaches' fiancée'.
Most of the laughs in the movie come from the wisecracks spoken by Wanda Sykes as Granny. This comedienne does not miss a single opportunity to get the most value out of each and every line provided for her. Romano's Manny is the heart and core of the movie but Granny as voiced by Sykes is its funny bone.
The movie is rated PG for some rude humor and comic violence.
Kids who are able to get their parents to take them to one more animated film this summer should enjoy the movie. The parents, not so much. "Ice Age" has had a good run. Now is the time to let it melt in peace.
I scored "Ice Age: Collision Course" a watery 4 out of 10.
Jackie K Cooper
www.jackiekcooper.com