Ice Age: Continental Drift - B-

Rated PG, 94 minutes

Entertainingly familiar, pleasant "Ice Age: Continental Drift"

Manny and the whole gang are back in "Ice Age: Continental Drift"

The animated film series "Ice Age" is well, showing it's age. In spite of a predictable story that's creakier than the cracks caused by Scrat, it's colorful, enjoyable fun, which is generally the case with these films. The pleasant fourth film in the series, "Ice Age: Continental Drift" brings back the whole gang: Manny (Ray Romano), Sid the Sloth (John Leguizamo), Diego (Denis Leary), and Scrat (voiced by Chris Wedge), not to mention Ellie (Queen Latifah), Crash (Seann William Scott) and Eddie (Josh Peck). This story concerns the continent breaking up once more, caused by (no surprise) Scrat. Manny, Sid, Diego and Sid's Granny (Wanda Sykes, stealing the movie) are separated from the rest of the herd on a floating piece of ice. They're captured by a group of ragtag pirates, including ape Gutt (Peter Dinklage, having fun), saber-tooth Shira (Jennifer Lopez), elephant seal Flynn (Nick Frost) and rabbit Squint (Aziz Ansari), who threaten the existence of Manny and the whole herd. If you enjoyed the other films in this series, you'll enjoy the fun but familiar "Ice Age: Continental Drift," which is held together by the memorable voicing of Sykes, who walks off with the movie as the Granny sloth and has so many good one-liners it's hard to keep track of them all, Dinklage as the villain and Leguizamo, always a treat as Sid. The rest of the cast is serviceable and most get in a quick line or two (Frost is also amusing), though the film is stuffed with too many characters and a predictable yet energetic pace. Listen closely for Drake, Nicki Minaj, Rebel Wilson, Heather Morris, Keke Palmer, Alan Tudyk  "The View's" Joy Behar and even Romano's daughter Ally, rounding out the large cast. The thin storyline is evident that the 10-year old animated feature series is showing signs of age, but then the young set, whom this geared for, will enjoy it the most and "Ice Age: Continental Drift" should be another big hit for Fox (which is already a big hit overseas). The film also has its first theme song, the pop song "Chasing the Sun," that the main cast, led by Lopez, Minaj and Latifah, sing over the end credits. Also, the hilarious wordless cartoon short "The Longest Daycare" starring The Simpsons' Maggie, opens the film. "Ice Age: Continental Drift" is entertaining, but it's mostly for the kids.

Grade: B-
by Wes Singleton