First Take: Ice Age Collision Course- Scrat's still not got his acorn?

SYPNOSIS: Manny, Diego, and Sid join up with Buck to fend off a meteor strike that would destroy the world.

Ice Age is a franchise that I simply adore- the first two films were cinematic genius, but the last two entries lacked the qualities that made the original such a big success. It’s with a great amount of pride that I have to say that Collision Course might be the best one yet.

The film does something very risky by blending sci-fi with children’s animation archetypes, and this is something that is done very well during the Scrat sections littered throughout the film. The writing is very good, with the script delivering some great moments of slapstick comedy alongside some brilliant intertextual references throughout the film. Performance-wise, it’s the same cast we all know and love from other films in the franchise, so there’s nothing new to report on apart from Jessie J’s very promising big screen debut as the voice of Brooke. The animation from Blue Sky is top notch as usual, with a vibrant colour palette on show for the entire 94 minute running time, and even though I was at a 2D showing, I could tell that the 3D version would be just as good.

THE VERDICT

Ice Age Collision Course is by far the best sequel that Blue Sky have made, as it really does feel like they have taken a lot of time to think of new ideas that they can implement into the franchise. This change in direction will easily result in Ice Age 6, but many audiences feel like this should wrap the story up nicely. It’s far from being the animated film of the year, but it’s still very good.

RATING- 4/5