Ice Age: Collision Course

It’s been 14 years since we first met Manny the mammoth, Sid the sloth and Diego the saber-toothed tiger in the original “Ice Age.” We’re now on the fifth (yes, fifth) installment in the degrading franchise, and with “Ice Age: Collision Course,” released in 2016, the originality is starting to wear out.

Devan Coggan said in his review, “The Ice Age series was never great cinema, but there’s always been a sense of heart under all the wisecracks and zany antics. Collision Course abandons that in favor of already stale pop culture references and laughless jokes.” The movie begins, as usual, with Scrat the squirrel, who accidentally finds an alien spaceship while looking for a place to hide his favorite acorn. Scrat then sees he is launched into space, bouncing around the solar system like he’s playing pinball, and not too long after, he’s accidentally sent a giant asteroid flying toward Earth.

Coggan stated, “Back on earth, our hero Manny is faced with a melodramatic plot pulled from any lazy sitcom of the last 30 years: Not only did he forget his wife’s anniversary, but his beloved daughter Peaches is engaged to an oafish mammoth named Julian, voiced by Adam DeVine, and the pair are planning to move away soon after the wedding.”

However, everything is soon overlooked by the giant asteroid in the sky, and Manny is forces to get his giant herd in trying to stop the inevitable extinction.

Every “Ice Age” movie has added more and more prehistoric characters, and this one is no exception, introducing Nick Offerman, Max Greenfield and Stephanie Beartriz as three evil feathered dinosaurs, the hot singer Jessie J as Sid’s love interest and Jesse Tyler Ferguson (currently playing Mitchell Pritchett on “Modern Family”) as a flexible yogi llama. Coggan said, “The result is a lifeless caper that’s overstuffed with one-dimensional characters and insipid gags.” One or two sidekicks can work, but when you’re balancing Sid’s grandmother, Ellie’s opossum brothers, Buck, and frequent cameos from astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson (Neil deBuck Weaseal) it’s hard to really care about any of them. Also, football analyst and former TV host Michael Strahan and YouTube star Lilly Singh join the cast. Even Scrat’s crazy accidents feel worn out the fifth time around. You’re not really wanting the asteroid to land, but you’re not really wanting it not too either.

As I have already stated, this franchise has really worn out its welcome. It really needs to stop and if they are thinking of more installments, they shouldn’t. This one really shows how tired the formula is getting. They really need to stop milking in this cow. Besides Sid being funny and maybe a few interesting characters, there’s nothing really going for this. Avoid this one.

Well, that thankfully ends off “Ice Age Month.” Sorry to explain how they all went downhill, but you needed to know. Stay tuned next month to see what I have in store for everyone.