Ice Age: Collision Course

The Ice Age films have always been one of the better, more consistent family franchises. But this is a sequel too far. Collision Course is very disappointing. The plot is all over the place, and too stop/start and complex for younger kids. More significantly, this fifth instalment in the series largely lacks the simple charm that was so endearing in the earlier films. There are moments, but not enough of them. The plot, such as it is, sees Sid the sloth, Manny the mammoth and Diego the sabretooth literally facing the fallout when prehistoric squirrel Scrat's perennial pursuit of that acorn takes him into space, where some cosmic pinball sends a huge asteroid hurtling towards Earth. The three pals and entourage stumble upon a plan - courtesy of odd sidesteps into Dinoland and what looks like Care Bears fantasyland - to alter the asteroid's course. Fortunately for ice-age Earth, the plan proves more successfully diverting than the film itself.