This drifter shows there's still life in this frozen franchise!

Rating: 7/10 (29 June 2012)

Although I did enjoy Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs more then Ice Age: The Meltdown, I was worried that the franchise was beginning to settle into bland territory. However, the commercials and trailer looked good, and as a huge fan of all animation, I didn't hesitate to see it on opening day.
And it was a fun movie. That's all I realistically wanted, and that's what I got.
Following the last movie, life has mostly settled down yet again for our Ice Age heroes. Manny is over protective of his teenage daughter Peaches, not letting her do anything for fear of her growing up too fast. Sid's family who abandoned him off-screen in the first Ice Age briefly return, only to dump his grouchy Granny on him and flee. All goes amiss when Manny, Diego and Sid get stranded on a ice floe and float out to sea, while those left behind move to flee the moving continental plates. Although Manny, Sid, Diego (and Granny, a stowaway who slept through a storm) brave a lot, they meet their match in a group of rugged pirates, led by the fearsome Captain Gutt. He tries being fake-nice to get them to join his crew, but when their escape attempt sinks his ship, he grows a taste for vengeance on Manny.
The crew must have realized their character development was bland last time around, as it's virtually non-existent this time, and it makes little effort to hide this fact In all three character's cases, they have a different attitude or position at the film's end then the start, but no arc, just a poorly written jump. Then again, not all animated films can be high art, and it wasn't like I was expecting any from it anyway. The movie also manages to mostly avoid the sluggish pacing of The Meltdown and the occasionally boring pace of Dawn Of The Dinosaurs by having several plots taking place, mostly that of the main characters and one about Peaches and fitting in back at the mainland. Hers is amusing enough, aided by a crucial new character in her mole friend Louis, who harbors feelings for her, but is just as afraid of rejection as she is of not being allowed to do what she wants.
Sid's Granny provides good laughs, even though's she no Buck (don't blink or you'll miss his cameo). Crash and Eddie do very little this time around, and even Ellie doesn't get much to do. But the film doesn't feel as bogged down that way. Scrat is as amusing as ever, and although a few of his antics here recall The Meltdown, he is still guaranteed to amuse all endlessly. In fact, his final fate may be his cruelest ending at the end of a Ice Age movie yet.
The pirates are a amusing bunch. Laughs come from the fat, ignorant 400-pound seal Flynn, and I also found skull-patterned badger Gupta amusing despite only a few lines. Shira's interesting enough, if only for wounding Diego's pride on many occasions. The rest of the crew are pretty forgettable, although they do their job.
Captain Gutt is without a doubt the best villain in the series though. More clever then Soto, more menacing then the carnivorous sea creatures from The Meltdown and way more memorable then the sluggish Rudy, he is just an all-around baddie. He almost approaches some of the great Disney villains. He isn't upfront about his badness straight away, only wanting Manny, Diego and Sid for his crew. He loses his humor when they foil his plans - twice - leading him to seek hard revenge. He's animated and voiced very well too. The climatic battle between him and Manny was particularly gripping.
The animation is again a step up from Dawn Of The Dinosaurs. Not Pixar, but doing the job greatly, particularly in Scrat's case and with Gutt. It retains that CGI-cartoon look that audiences seem to love. And I liked it too.
Of course, it's not perfect. Half of the pirates, particularly a silent boar, were faceless enemies. Diego's subplot was poorly resolved, there are still some corny lines in the movie, and the plot, while taking a few surprise twists, is still somewhat linear. But the dated pop-culture jokes and innuendos are toned back, the adventure focused on more, the gags somewhat more refined, and the pacing not as sluggish. It makes for a somewhat time at the movies. As Madagascar 3 and Brave haven't been released here yet, I have no recent choices to compare it to, but I enjoyed it. Go see Ice Age: Continental Drift.
Preceding it is a 4-minute Simpsons short, The Longest Daycare, starring Maggie Simpson. A spoof of silent shorts and films to an extent, this was also enjoyable, amusing and fresh, easily the best Maggie's had in the Simpsons for a while now. It added to my overall enjoyment of the feature.