Ice Age: Collision Course Review

"The mother of all asteroids, screaming towards us. But I got a plan! Who's with me?"


Ice Age: Collision Course is the latest and fifth entry into the Ice Age franchise. The film was directed by Galen T. Chu and Mike Thurmeier and stars the likes of Ray Romano, Queen Latifah, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo and Simon Pegg. The film continues exploring the lives of Manny, Ellie, Diego and Sid and of course Scrat, but this time they face global extinction when faced with an asteroid heading towards Earth caused by you know who.... Scrat, one again Scrats constant search for his beloved acorn literally could cause the extinction of the world.

Now lets start off by saying that the Ice Age films have been a huge part of my childhood and I have grown up watching and enjoying these films, so when I heard that there was going to be a fifth film in the franchise I was pleased.... but does there really need to be a fifth film (what else can go wrong for these characters!). Ice Age Collision Course still keeps a lot of the comedy element that we have come to expect from an Ice Age film and that is one of the strongest parts of the film for me, I enjoyed a lot of the jokes in the film and it generally has some very good comedic sequences in the film. Another successful area of the film would be all the sequences surrounding the character of Scrat, honestly he steels the film for me (literally stands out in all of the films!!) and all of the scenes including Scrat are extremely funny and very well directed (he literally creates the solar system as we know it!). The animation is also very good and is up to standards set by the previous films in the Ice Age franchise and the film also has a lot of meaning and lessons that teach you, for example to enjoy life and focus on everything that makes you happy in life.

On the other hand there were some of aspects of the film the disappointed me, one of those would be the third act of the film, as soon as the characters enter into one of the asteroids that previously hit the earth and wiped out the dinosaurs, they enter a more mystical land surrounded by crystals and meet some mystical hippy like characters, and this section for me really dragged and did not feel necessary for the film and really disconnected me from the film (trust me it really drags in the third act). I also felt like there were some really unnecessary side plots, the main one involved Buck (Simon Pegg) being hunted by three Dromaeosaurs, literally this side plot added nothing to the film for me, I understand it was used to create a sense that the characters were being hunted and chased  (they are really after Buck!) but that sense of danger really did not came across, and in some sequences unnecessarily takes you away from the adventure that the characters are on and really and I mean really felt unnecessary and useless compared to other so called villains in the Ice Age Franchise.

Overall I think families will love this film especially those with young children, or if you have grown up watching the Ice Age films, like I have done then you will defiantly enjoy this film, but don't expect anything new or substantially different from the formula and characters that we have come to love in previous films in the franchise.

Verdict: 3 out of 5 stars