Really not that bad

Rating: 6/10 (10 November 2013)

I'm not exactly sure, if it should be taken into consideration when evaluating this movie that it's already the fourth entry in the series and of course not that fresh and innovative anymore. They certainly made the most of it taken that into consideration. But it's not really that bad that you have to look for excuses or mitigating factors. Ice Age 4 is still a solid film I wouldn't hesitate to show my children. The first half is rather weak and had me occasionally lost interest, but the fact that I never stop watching a film before it actually ends was rewarded here and the second half was actually pretty good, definitely an improvement. The whole continental drift story is pretty forgettable and really only just the frame for the characters and their interactions.
We have a muscular scary monkey here as the main antagonist (voiced by "Game of Thrones"-star Peter Dinklage) who leads a gang of pirates. Otherwise pretty much all the characters from the last three films are included and if you loved them there, chances are good you will also enjoy them here. In addition, there's a female saber-toothed tiger with the most predictable, but nonetheless sweet, storyline. Still, it's fun. Scrat is included again as well and while I never was a fan of him at all, I have to admit I enjoyed the part near the end when he gets to "Scratlantis" to the tune of the wonderful "Freude schöner Götterfunken", maybe my favorite inclusion of Scrat in the whole franchise. I'd need to watch the other films again to make a definite decision.
The film itself seems to focus on father-daughter issues judging from the beginning, but I personally enjoyed the unusual friendship story involving said daughter and the hedgehog(?) more captivating and moving. It was the highlight of these 90 minutes. Comedy-wise you can't really top a paralyzed Sid (that's what you get for being such a glutton!). The animation is fine as you'd expect it, especially when it comes to the characters. Really it's almost impossible to find a film these days where the animation is amateurish enough to hurt the overall image of a movie. It's all just about different styles and you have to find your own favorite approach. Occasionally it's even fine enough to bring up some really cute scenes, for example all those scenes that involve the hyraces.
Directors Steve Martino and Mike Thurmeier have worked among other things on the Scrat short films in the past and they've managed to add a worthy fourth film to the series. I watched the first three films a couple years ago and I wouldn't say that this one is inferior to them in quality at all. That's why I'd recommend it, especially to fans of the first three and to children and animation lovers of all ages.