On safe shores

Ice Age: Continental Drift:

Ruwini JAYAWARDANA

Sid and granny

Scrat’s acorn-chasing tactics continue

Manny and friends being chased by the pirates

Having watched all the Ice Age movies one wonders if the series can get any better but Ice Age: Continental Drift surprises and delights fans by proving to be even more entertaining than its predecessors.

The movie sees the team of post-Jurassic survivalists Manny, Sid, Diego and Scrat back in action. The three best friends are facing two major dilemmas: congenital drift and pirates. Mammy, Sid and Diego are set adrift on a chunk of ice, separated from Manny’s mate, Ellie, and his teenage daughter, Peaches. They later pick up some troublesome cargo on the way in the form of Sid’s granny. Meantime Peaches is trying to keep up with other mammoth teenagers who are the ‘cool’ gang of the block.

She tries to avoid her one-time best friend, a mole hog named Louis. The whole team comes together to defeat a pirate Orangutan named Captain Gutt who is the leader of a pack of different kinds of animals that dare not threaten his authority in taking other animals for slavery.

The beauty of the theme in Ice Age: Continental Drift is in fact that the drift takes place not only geographically but also among the characters: Manny and Peaches, Sid and his granny and Peaches and Louis. The gang learns that uniting together and overcoming their differences helps them to beat the baddies.

Meanwhile Scrat’s colourful adventures of endless-chasing-after-an-acorn continue. One almost marvels at the sheer genius of the scriptwriters in adding variety and uniqueness to each episode in which the final aim happens to be the same: Scrat’s desire to possess the acorn which ultimately ends in failure and puts him back on square one. The team should be commended for this fact alone because we do not feel any monotony or are not reminded of any of his previous escapades as we witness the saber-toothed squirrel’s attempts which leave him in hot water and the audience in merriment. He oozes with the charm that is set by a Looney Tunes character and though his scenes are inserted as a funny side story, he remains as the main attraction of the ‘Ice Age’ series for many fans.

The cast comprising Ray Romano, Queen Latifah, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo, Peter Dinklage, Aziz Ansari, Joy Behar, Christopher Campbell, Ester Dean, Nick Frost, and Josh Gad are perfect for the characters. They leave no stone unturned in putting their best efforts in voicing their characters and connect well with each other. The addition of a saber-toothed white female tiger named Shira, voiced by Jennifer Lopez, only heightens the interest towards the movie. Dinklage gets to render his voice for the best new addition to the series as Captain Gutt. There is also a good combination of character, personality and voice variety in Capitan Gutt’s minions.

Screenplay writers Michael Berg and Jason Fuchs’ witty humour continues in Ice Age: Continental Drift. They are masters at enchanting the audience with their clever dialogues, some which only animals can get away with.

This together with directors Steve Martino and Mike Thurmeier’s expertise makes the movie a roller coaster of entertainment for audience of all ages.

Catch the movie with its grand 3D works at Savoy Cinema’s wide screen. The state-of-the-art technology gets better in every passing scene. It is the perfect source of lighthearted entertainment for your whole family during this holiday season. With strong followings from all parts of the globe it is no wonder that the Ice Age franchise continues to be a money spinner that leaves the viewers begging for more. Bravo!