Even the Shrek sequels threw Shrek and Fiona’s marriage into deep water (except for the series clunker, Shrek the Third). Think of the Toy Story sequels, both of which turned on the central relationships - among the toys and between the toys and Andy - being in flux and in question. Still, in both sequels you could see a creative energy at work - the contribution of director Carlos Saldanha, perhaps, who didn’t quite hit his stride until Rio.īut in the way that matters most, the franchise hasn’t changed a jot since the first film: Our three heroes - Manny the mammoth, Sid the sloth and Diego the saber (Ray Ramano, John Leguizamo and Denis Leary) - have remained static as characters, and life in their motley “herd” goes on with no development of any kind in their relationships, such as they are. Dawn of the Dinosaurs suffered from an infusion of uncharacteristic DreamWorks-style raunchy humor. The second installment, The Meltdown, was at a complete loss for what to do with its trio of heroes, but Scrat upped his game to nearly sublime silent comedy. The original is the only one that really works: a nice exercise in shtick, with some real heart amid the clunkier bits, and the crowd-pleasing wordless slapstick of Scrat the saber-squirrel. Oh, the pros and cons of each film shift about. It’s more resolutely like the three previous Ice Age movies than they are like themselves. Nothing is different except for the toys: Last time it was dinosaurs this time it’s pirates. Its brand-name familiarity and reassuring sameness are its stock in trade. It’s another serving of exactly the same product that millions of families have been served before and will come back to again and again. Ice Age: Continental Drift is more like a Happy Meal than a movie.
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