Ice Age 4 (PG)

Ice Age 4: Continental Drift hits our screen this week.  Come along and get washed away with the popular series that has got better and better with each instalment.  The animation quality is incredible, right down to the last hair.


You're likely already familiar with the characters and story lines which have preceded this film, but if you aren't, here is a brief run down of what you've missed so far:

The series follows a group of mammals surviving the Paleolithic ice age.  In the first film we meet Sid, a sloth who never stops talking and is left behind sleeping while everyone else begins the journey to the south.  Awaking, he meets Manny, a mammoth who travels to the north, and decides to follow him.  In Ice Age: The Meltdown we see that Manny, Sid, and grumpy sabre-toothed tiger Diego are currently living in a large valley surrounded by an enormously high ice wall on all sides. When a "water park" begins to form, the trio discovers that the ice wall is actually barely holding a massive body of water that could flood the valley to nearly a mile underwater. A vulture tells them that there is a boat at the other end of the valley that may save them all, but they only have three days to make it or die.  In Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs our lovable characters have a lot changing for them: Scrat is still on the hunt to hold onto his beloved acorn, while finding a possible romance in a female sabre-toothed squirrel named Scratte. Manny and Ellie the mammoth, having since become an item, are expecting a baby, which leaves Manny anxious to ensure that everything is perfect for when his baby arrives. Diego is fed up with being treated like a house-cat and ponders the notion that he is becoming too laid-back...

In this fourth episode, Manny,  Diego and Sid embark on their biggest adventure yet, after Scrat sets an entire continent adrift! While pursuing his elusive acorn, Scrat inadvertently triggers an event that splits the continents, and an epic adventure begins in which they encounter gigantic sea creatures and are forced to battle with a band of ruthless pirate critters.

As it stands this film is currently the 7th highest-grossing animated feature in history, and the third highest-grossing film of 2012, with a worldwide gross of over $764 million.

Below are some of the reviews which this film has been receiving:

*Fans of 20th Century Fox animation, you have cause to rejoice. A charming 3-D cartoon arrives in theatres on Friday, witty and touching and marvellously concise, part of a series that has managed to stay fresh and inventive after many years in the pop-culture spotlight. *  The New York Times

*The animators at Blue Sky have dreamt up some truly beautiful vistas and environments (as nerdy as it sounds, their water simulators are breathtaking) and the older characters' design have been subtlety tweaked in refreshing ways.* The Playlist

*Old friends and new voice talent will delight kids* Empire

Watch the trailer below:

Ice Age 4: Continental Drift is screening on: Friday 24th at 10.45am & 3pm and Saturday 25th at 3pm.

We hope you come along before we go adrift!