Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012)

(In French, on Blu-Ray, June 2015) I still think that the Ice Age series is duller than it ought to be, but I can certainly appreciate how the third and fourth instalment try shaking things up. In Continental Drift’s case, the series goes out to sea, with a plot that involves a lot of water and a bunch of pirates.  Yes, pirates.  Ice age pirates.  It may sound like a big ball of nonsense, but it does lead to a big grand adventure featuring the usual characters of the series, with new voice actors such as Jennifer Lopez joining the fun.  It’s not particularly sophisticated from a plotting viewpoint, but it doesn’t need to be: the action sequences are big and broad, everyone has something to do (miracles of miracles, Sid is almost less annoying this time around) and there are easy gags everywhere.  For a series reaching a fourth installment, Ice Age is still keeping terminal ennui at bay.  Granted, it didn’t have very high standards to begin with, but it seems to be meeting its own goals so far, and the film does look reasonably entertaining for the kids.  By this installment, everyone know what to expect.