I bet Ice Age: Continental Drift hoped to distract viewers from its shortcomings with the cool 3D special effects. However, since I saw this one in 2D, the attempted misdirection didn't work. This movie stretches a simplistic storyline on for far too long, and it isn't that funny. I don't know if all the humor was used up by the first three movies or if I'm just tired of this series. I did like the Scrat sequences, though. He's still got it.

The Ice Age series is one of the more endearing animated franchise from the past decade. The first was a heartwarming and genuinely funny adventure taking place during the time of mammoths, sabertooth tigers, and clumsy sloths. The first sequel lost a lot of that magic, but Dawn of the Dinosaurs did do some fresh things with the series. However, generally, over time, the films have gained plenty of characters, but lost most of its charm. The fourth in the series, Continental Drift, is the least exciting, least funny, and cheapest of the bunch. That's not to say that Ice Age 4 doesn't have its moments: the main characters still have their appeal and there are a few good laughs, but it is clear that the Ice Age train is running out of steam here.Continental Drift kicks off with the lovable rodent Scrat causing the continents to drift apart. The trio of Manny, Diego, and Sid are soon embarking on an adventure adrift on the open sea. They meet up with pirates (and a whole collection of new characters) and try to find their way home. The plots of the Ice Age films have gotten simpler as they go, instead relying on introducing as many new characters as possible.The problem with Ice Age 4 is that none of the new characters are memorable, funny, or charming. The effort just seems to be down here. Ray Romano, Dennis Leary, and John Leguizamo, still manage to breath some life into the picture, but the passion is clearly not there like it was in 2002. The animation is also less-than-stellar. Ice Age Continental Drift could be a TV movie and I wouldn't know the difference. It's just cheap.There are some moments of wit and excitement in Ice Age 4, but on the whole, it is an exercise in diminishing returns. Most of the passion and effort of the series is gone, leading to a generic and, dare I say, boring animated adventure. Look elsewhere for family fun.42/100

Far too juvenile to appeal to anyone other than kids, the fourth instalment in the Ice Age series is a clear evidence that the studio should've stopped after the last chapter instead of inflating the saga mindlessly for the bubble finally bursts with this latest entry that is as dull & lifeless as sequels get.The story of Ice Age: Continental Drift follows Manny who along with Sid & Diego is separated from his family following the breakup of their continent, inadvertently caused by Scrat during his pursuit of the prized acorn, and soon find themselves captured by sea pirates while trying to return home.Co-directed by Steve Martino & Mike Thurmeier, Continental Drift begins well but the story fizzles out of gas way sooner than expected and for the most part, it is a chore to sit through. The plot is just meh, the original characters feature no interesting arcs while the new additions are a tad too annoying.The animation still retains its crisp quality & sharpness but the camera is more focused on the 3D experience than the story or characters, Editing is lame, most of its attempts at humour fall apart, and the only thing that manages to stay consistent with its predecessors is Scrat's stroke of bad luck.On an overall scale, Ice Age: Continental Drift is an uninspiring, uninvolving & unnecessary entry in the saga that takes little elements from the first three films but fails to execute the winning formula this time. Exhibiting signs of weariness & massive downgrade in pretty much everything, it is an absolutely bland & empty experience that easily goes down as the weakest chapter of the series, thus far. Skip it.

I'm not exactly sure, if it should be taken into consideration when evaluating this movie that it's already the fourth entry in the series and of course not that fresh and innovative anymore. They certainly made the most of it taken that into consideration. But it's not really that bad that you have to look for excuses or mitigating factors. Ice Age 4 is still a solid film I wouldn't hesitate to show my children. The first half is rather weak and had me occasionally lost interest, but the fact that I never stop watching a film before it actually ends was rewarded here and the second half was actually pretty good, definitely an improvement. The whole continental drift story is pretty forgettable and really only just the frame for the characters and their interactions.We have a muscular scary monkey here as the main antagonist (voiced by "Game of Thrones"-star Peter Dinklage) who leads a gang of pirates. Otherwise pretty much all the characters from the last three films are included and if you loved them there, chances are good you will also enjoy them here. In addition, there's a female saber-toothed tiger with the most predictable, but nonetheless sweet, storyline. Still, it's fun. Scrat is included again as well and while I never was a fan of him at all, I have to admit I enjoyed the part near the end when he gets to "Scratlantis" to the tune of the wonderful "Freude schöner Götterfunken", maybe my favorite inclusion of Scrat in the whole franchise. I'd need to watch the other films again to make a definite decision.The film itself seems to focus on father-daughter issues judging from the beginning, but I personally enjoyed the unusual friendship story involving said daughter and the hedgehog(?) more captivating and moving. It was the highlight of these 90 minutes. Comedy-wise you can't really top a paralyzed Sid (that's what you get for being such a glutton!). The animation is fine as you'd expect it, especially when it comes to the characters. Really it's almost impossible to find a film these days where the animation is amateurish enough to hurt the overall image of a movie. It's all just about different styles and you have to find your own favorite approach. Occasionally it's even fine enough to bring up some really cute scenes, for example all those scenes that involve the hyraces.Directors Steve Martino and Mike Thurmeier have worked among other things on the Scrat short films in the past and they've managed to add a worthy fourth film to the series. I watched the first three films a couple years ago and I wouldn't say that this one is inferior to them in quality at all. That's why I'd recommend it, especially to fans of the first three and to children and animation lovers of all ages.