Ice Age: Collision Course

Just when you thought it was safe to back to the theater, we have yet another sequel to that never ending "Ice Age" franchise appropriately titled "Ice Age: Collision Course" or otherwise known as "Ice Age 5". Five?! Ever since this franchise started back in 2009 with the original "Ice Age", Hollywood has been cranking these films out as fast as Blue Sky Studios is able to produce them.

Bumbling saber-toothed squirrel Scrat (Chris Wedge) continues to cause mischief even in outer space, when he inadvertently sets off a series of events that send an asteroid hurtling toward Earth. Soon, Manny the woolly mammoth (Ray Romano), Sid the sloth (John Leguizamo), and Diego the saber-toothed tiger (Denis Leary) embark on a journey with their family, Ellie (Queen Latifah), Manny's wife, Peaches (Keke Palmer), daughter of Manny and Ellie, and their rambunctious friends, Julian (Adam DeVine), boyfriend of Peaches, Buck (Simon Pegg) and others to prevent the asteroid from ending life as they know it.

Others to round out the cast are Jennifer Lopez as Shira, Max Greenfield as Roger, Jessie J as Brooke, Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Shangra-Llama, Josh Peck as Eddie, Seann William Scott as Crash, Wanda Sykes as Granny, Nick Offerman as Gavin, Stephanie Beatriz as Gertie, and Michael Strahan as Teddy.

This was cleverly and whimsically directed by Mike Thurmeier ("Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" (co-dir.) '09, "Ice Age: Continental Drift" '12) plus many shorts, and Galen T. Chu (shorts). Obviously, if there is any director that would know these characters as well as Thurmeier, I would be surprised. This guy knows all the nuances, especially of the three main characters, so well that he could probably direct any film of this franchise in his sleep. Emotions of these characters is very similar from film to film to bring its audience to that place of familiarity with each and every nuance. Where the problem ensues is in the writing. This was written by Michael J. Wilson, Michael Berg and Yoni Brenner based on a story from Aubrey Solomon. Although the premise to these was creative and entertaining, the execution definitely needed polish. It started a bit slow, and, all of a sudden, the story practically changed without a warning, all the while you're wondering how these two different thoughts are going to mesh. They finally do mesh, but it took these writers way too long to get to that point, leaving its audience in the dark. What interests me is that all these writers have a minimum of two animated film screenplays to their credit--these aren't newcomers. Did they just have a bad day at the their laptop, or was this just a fluke? Not sure. Since this is number 5 in the franchise, unless this garners more money at the box office, I suspect we won't be seeing a number 6. Scrat was probably the shining character, as he always has been, in this and the visuals by Blue Sky Studios, who produced this were stunning as well.

Certainly if total fluff, which is why this franchise was created, is your forte, this makes a great popcorn summer flick, but if you're looking for a more cohesive storyline, you may wany to rethink in going to the multiplex to take this one on. 

Out of 4 Stars: 2                                  Rated: PG                                   94mins.