Ice Age 4 Melts

Having originally gone to see Ponyo on the big screen I was almost unconsoulable when they ushers told us that the screen was broke and that they can 'upgrade' us to Ice Age 4 in 3D. Upgrade? Upgrade!

I haven't even seen Ponyo yet and I already know I love it, as for Ice Age, none of these disgustingly fickle films are going to be even half way decent enough for me to consider watching the trailer let alone consider it an upgrade.

So as you can tell I went in with no preconceptions at all... erm, well, anyway.

I do not know whether it was because of the 3D or the fact that I have only seen the other 3 films on television that I thought that the animation had improved a little, not enough to detract from the various holes in science and character building.

The plot, well what can I say, I have forgotten it already, it was so clumsy and heavily burdened by the producer's own greedy eyes on the dollar signs. The usual 'characters' are here along with a shed load of light-comic-relief characters to try and distract the viewer from the lack of believable story.

There was a weird love triangle between two mammoths and a rat called Lewis who was awkwardly stuck in the friend zone, some grotesque American high school side-plot that was filled with poor acting skills and a Granny who's senile ramblings made no ground-breaking leaps to helping children-grandparent relations.

I did enjoy Nick Frost as Flynn, he had a few good one-liners and Peter Dinklage actual voice acting was fine as Captain Gut but was over shadowed by the insulting attempts to parallel him with Captain Ahab from Moby Dick.

Drifting the continent in search of a decent script writer.

I have read other reviews that claim the franchise has run out of steam but quite frankly the franchise melted quarter of the way through Ice Age 1. The thing that annoys me, and it happens with children's book too, is that the people behind films like this just have no conviction in the story or depth of character because in their minds they are thinking "kids, it's a kids movie".

Yes they are kids. But kids not a theatre full of potatoes. They have brains and are able to perceive complex characters and original plots. Just look at the continuing success of Pixar and Studio Ghibli, they regularly produce beautiful films that children and adults often can get lost in.

Films like Ice Age often get confused and mixed in with films like Toy Story or Spirited Away when really they are not even close to being in the same league. They are the trashy rom-coms of the children's animation world, a money spinner for Hollywood and the A-Listers who have fallen on hard times or just can not act.

Needless to say I did not enjoy Continental Drift it drifted from the screen into my stony, glazed-over, eyes and straight back out through my ears. A terrible film milking the family franchise for overt financial reasons dressed up as heartfelt life lessons that children of all ages can enjoy, Martino and Thurmeier you sicken me.