The most
unusual herd ever seen on screen is back. Well, this seems to be superhit
sequels month; we had Batman hitting us with his final chapter last week, and
now comes Ice Age with its fourth instalment. Over this decade-long franchise,
we have developed a real liking and understanding of its characters. We know
what to expect from them and the franchise.
As you would expect with any Ice
Age movie, the start and the finish have to be orchestrated by one man – Scrat.
He is once again up to what he has been doing ever since the Ice Age franchise
began – chasing the acorn. This time his antics spark off a turn of events
that, as per the film makers, is the reason why the whole world (that was one
landmass) is now split into continents. The first few minutes of the film
should make you wonder about the bountiful imagination and sense of humor of
the people behind Ice Age. In a minute, they show how the world cracked up into
continents, show you how the pyramids in Egypt, Mount Rushmore and many other
historic landmarks came into being – all courtesy Scrat’s sojourn to the
earth’s core. That one minute sets the tone for a movie that should be full of
moments of fun and mirth.
That’s how it begins. Its all
fun, as you are reintroduced to the strangest herd ever. Manny is as solid and
reliable as before, Diego still has the ‘devil may care attitude’, Ellie still
hangs upside down from a branch at night and everybody’s favourite, Sid, has
not gotten over his juvenile stupid ways, which by the way everyone loves. Ice
Age is the only occasion where you will see the arrival of a sloth on screen
being cheered. And, there is a new addition to the herd, we had seen her as a
baby in the last instalment, now she’s all grown up and ready to have a
boyfriend much to Manny’s dismay. Who are we talking about? Peaches, the
daughter of Manny and Ellie. Sid is reunited with his family, even though if
its only for a few seconds and is then saddled with his granny. Diego as usual
is trying in vain to be considerate without knowing the meaning of the word.
That is when the action starts, the crack up rather. Earth cracks, pulling
asunder the family that was once together. Soon you have Manny, Diego and Sid
floating away on the ocean on a piece of ice. It looks as if the world has to
come to and end!
How does the family get back
together? In an adventure that has pirate ships made entirely of ice, a monkey
pirate king who likes to sing, a crew so heterogenous you would think it would
make the protagonists look like a perfectly normal herd, narwhals,
battling hyraxes and a huge whale – the
family is finally together again. You don’t want to miss this adventure.
Ice Age 4 does not have the same
fun quotient as its predecessors. You don’t get as many Sid moments as you
would have liked and the camaraderie of the herd has not been given enough
space to really set the house on fire. The focus of this instalment is more on
the adventure part, with well-planned villainy making a return to this
franchise after it was last seen in the first instalment. With a major portion
of the story taking place at sea, the canvas of the herd’s adventure seems to
have been compensated. But, this holds true only for a brief period of time.
Also, the fact that none of the characters aboard the pirate ship, except
Captain Gutt and his first mate Shira, make an impression dampens the movie a
bit. And, the frequent cuts between the sea and the mainland (where Ellie and
Peaches are) robs some momentum away from the adventure. Many would say that it
is expectations that end up killing a movie or a franchise because they are so
hard to match. But, curiously, in the case of Ice Age, at least in the fourth
instalment, it is the expectations and the already existing familiarity with
its characters that make the movie worth watching. It is as if you know, on
cue, who’s lines are going to be funny, when to expect the next joke and what
unbelievable idiocy Sid will be up to next. In fact, it is this impending sense
of fun that is about to happen that keeps the movie afloat on many occasions.
But, the good thing is that the impending fun does happen, more often than not.
Ice Age is a whole lot of fun. The
dialogues, which have always been the best thing about this franchise do not
disappoint this time, especially the lines given to Sid; you will simply love
the different guesses he makes about the ‘L’ word. The visuals are splendid, at
times exhilarating, especially the bobsleigh ride by Sid’s family and the storm
sequence (this portion makes the extra money spent on the 3-D glasses worth it).
And, of course, there is the amazing imagination of the creative talent behind
Ice Age that never ceases to surprise you. You must watch the battle scenes to
really appreciate the details. Also, do not miss the Scratlantis part right
towards the end. You get to laugh quite a lot, heartily at that. You will not
at all be disappointed. It may be the weakest film of the Ice Age franchise,
but its still does enough to stand on its own merit as a light hearted entertainer
which you will you not regret watching. The 3-D might be an enhancement that
has done little to help, except on a couple of occasions, but it is still worth
a try.
Above all, if you have watched
Ice Age before and have loved the characters that have been so beautifully
sketched, then there is no way that you will find this movie uninteresting. It’s
like meeting old friends once again; fun is guaranteed, especially when Sid
dances!
Verdict: Plain sailing at times - but mostly hilarious!
No comments:
Post a Comment