On a Collision Course with kids everywhere
Ice Age gang — er, herd — returns for its fifth episode of frozen mayhem
Ice Age: Collision Course could be the 10th film in the wacky children’s franchise, or the 50th. It doesn’t really matter (technically, it is the fifth).
Film critics like to lambaste the longevity of movie franchises, but we all cynically acknowledge the commercial drive behind them. Kids’ films, in particular, seem to invite a steady accumulation of instalments, because children love seeing the same old familiar faces in movies. And while they will eventually outgrow their favourite franchises over time, another younger generation will quickly replace them. (The first Ice Age movie came out 14 years ago!)
There will always be an audience young enough to enjoy more films featuring Manny the woolly mammoth (Ray Romano), Sid the sloth (John Leguizamo), Diego the sabre-toothed cat (Denis Leary) and various other herd members gathered over time, including Manny’s wife Ellie (Queen Latifah), Diego’s wife Shira (Jennifer Lopez) and Sid’s granny (Wanda Sykes). As long as these voice actors get paid oodles of money to phone in their extremely facile thespian work, Ice Age will last into, well, the next ice age.
In Collision Course, Scrat the sabre-toothed squirrel (Chris Wedge) manages to launch himself into space via a Star Trek-like spaceship (don’t bother asking how that’s possible).
He inadvertently hurls space rocks toward Earth, including a massive asteroid that could prove catastrophic.
Back at home, Manny fails to deal with his overprotective fatherly instincts as his daughter Peaches (Keke Palmer) prepares to leave the nest.
In typical masculine fashion, Manny projects his negativity onto Peaches’ goofy but affable fiancé, Julian (Adam DeVine). When the herd realizes the fatal danger presented by the asteroid, a new character arrives to save the day: the highly intelligent and mercurial weasel, Buck (Simon Pegg), who hatches a scheme to divert the massive asteroid away from hitting Earth.
They discover the space rocks have electromagnetic properties, meaning if they launch the landed rocks from a volcano, it will attract the larger asteroid away from Earth. Meanwhile, they must also ward off a bullyish family of Dromaeosaurs angry with Buck for stealing their food.
The science behind Buck’s plan is of course mere mumbo jumbo, but for a kids’ film, the logic is neither here nor there.
It’s worth noting that Buck’s scheme does require a fairly comprehensive explanation of electromagnetism.
That educational component, featuring a strange cameo from Neil deGrasse Tyson, should ease any parents’ concerns their children are watching nothing more than a fatuous, fast-paced physical comedy — though of course there’s plenty enough of that.