Ice Age: Collision Course

Directors: Mike Thurmeier & Galen T Chu.

Voice Cast: Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Queen Latifah, Keke Palmer, Jennifer Lopez, simon Pegg, Chris Wedge, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Adam DeVine, Nick Offerman, Maz Greenfield, Stephanie Beatriz, Melissa Rauch, Carlos Ponce, Michael Strahan, Jessie J, Neil deGrasse Tyson.

The fifth movie in the Ice Age series — Ice age: Collision Course — is here.

Fox has been making Ice Age movies for fourteen years. A surprise hit back in 2002, the franchise’s enduring popularity can be chalked up to international audiences, with the series having long petered-out in North America, while chalking-up blockbuster numbers in Europe and Asia. Compare Ice Age: Continental Drift’s $161 million US gross (good – but weak for a CG animated kids film) to the astounding $715 million it made overseas.

Commercially, it was inevitable that the modestly budgeted series would continue, but creatively, it’s clear this once beloved franchise has all but run out of steam. It’s funny, looking back now the original film holds-up surprisingly well. I remember being shocked back then at how dark Manny the mammoth’s story wound-up being, with it being revealed his whole family was murdered by Neanderthals, making his quest to return a baby to her tribe bittersweet. I even remember it having a surprisingly harsh ending, with Manny violently killing the main baddie to save the baby — something that would never happen in a G-rated kids movie in our age of “trigger warnings” and such.

It’s the kind of movie that, when Manny is given a surprise party by his prehistoric pals, Beyonce fills the soundtrack and the critters start making pop culture jokes that feel like they’ve been focus-grouped to appeal to hyperactive kids. Forget any kind of actual story, with the apocalyptic asteroid storm being largely ignored in favor of jokes about Manny’s annoyance with his new son-in-law.

Although not as great as its predecessors, but Ice age: Collision Course is definitely worth your time and watch.

The predecessors of Ice age: Collision Course are Ice Age (2002), Ice Age: Meltdown (2006), Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs (2009) and Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012). Ice Age is the first animated franchise to produce five full-length theatrical films. A sixth sequel has also been confirmed by the makers.