Reviewed by our guest critic, The Movie Knight.
Your favorite prehistoric mammals are back once again for their fifth adventure. Scrat, the famous saber-toothed squirrel is once again in pursuit of that elusive acorn. This time his chase brings him into a UFO buried in the ice, which quickly takes off into outer space. On the plus side, he ends up helping to create our solar system as we know it, on the negative he sets an asteroid on a collusion course with Earth, threatening to destroy all life on the planet.
Meanwhile, woolly mammoth parents Manny and Ellie (Ray Romano and Queen Latifah) are worried about the upcoming marriage of their daughter Peaches (Keke Palmer) to her fiancé, Julian (Adam Devine). They just don’t “get” him and they’re also not thrilled to learn the kids plan to move away after the ceremony.
While this is going on saber-toothed tigers Diego and Shira (Denis Leary and Jennifer Lopez) are considering having kids of their own, but are hesitant, since all the other children are usually afraid of them. Their sloth friend Sid, (John Leguizamo) is just trying to find himself a love life. All of this may not matter anyway, since the planet is about to be destroyed. Their only hope lies with Buck, the one-eyed weasel (Simon Pegg) who is convinced he’s found a prophecy that can save them all. However, they must go on a long, dangerous journey to do so and time is running out.
The Ice Age franchise, which is almost 15 years old, started out as movies the whole family could enjoy. Today, the series has strictly become a kid’s fare and parents must flip a coin between them to see who has to endure the movie with the children. Almost all the jokes and humor is geared towards people under the age of ten. There are a couple of jokes for the parents, but movies that do a 2001 reference has been done to death and no longer gets a laugh.
If you must take the family to the movie, it is worth the extra bucks to see it in 3D. The effects are quite good and do add to the entertainment value of the experience. While mom and dad may not have the best time at this movie, the kids are certain to like it. In the end, seeing your children happy is all that matters. Two Tiaras.