OK for kids 6+
Prehistoric pals hit the seas for an exciting adventure.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Ice Age: Continental Drift is the fourth installment in Fox's popular prehistoric animal franchise. Even the youngest moviegoers will want to follow Manny, Sid, and Diego's latest adventures. Like Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, this one's in 3-D and features some cartoonish violence, mild romance, a smattering of insults, and some scatological humor. On the plus side, there are a lot of overtly positive messages about family and friendship.
- Families can talk about the franchise's defining message about the meaning of family. What defines a family? How is Sid's "biological" family a disappointment compared to his herd?
- Is Peaches a believable teenager? Why are teens embarrassed by their parents? How do Peaches and Manny reconcile their difference of opinion?
- Do the Ice Age movies feel complete now, or would you like to see another one? How does Continental Drift compare to the three others? Which one is your favorite?
The good stuff
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Educational value: Kids might be inspired to learn about prehistoric animals, but Ice Age: Continental Drift is obviously intended for entertainment purposes and shouldn't be considered an accurate depiction of the way ancient mammals interacted.
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Messages: The central idea of every Ice Age film is that your herd (family) isn't necessarily the one you're born with but the tribe that protects you and loves you unconditionally. Even though Sid's sloth family abandons him, Manny and Diego never will. The subplot with Peaches reminds viewers that true friends accept you as you are, not under the condition that you dump another friend first.
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Role models: The main characters are all committed to their herd, even in the direst of circumstances. Sid and Diego never question Manny's determination to get back to Ellie and Peaches. Ellie is a patient and understanding mother. Peaches is a somewhat stereotypical teenager who's embarrassed by her over-protective parents, but she learns how lucky she is by the end of the movie. Ellie's best friend Louis might look like a weakling, but when things get scary, he summons his courage to save Peaches. Even usually senile Grandma knows a lot more than she lets on.
What to watch for
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Violence and scariness: Lots of cartoonish violence, as per usual with the Ice Age movies. Scrat unintentionally causes widespread destruction and personal harm in his attempt to secure his precious acorn. Young kids might be scared when Manny, Diego, and Sid are separated from the rest of the herd. The pirate Captain Gutt is menacing and tells a frightening story about how he got his nickname. He's bent on revenge and is willing to sacrifice any of his pirates to achieve it. None of the other characters is really hurt, however, so there isn't a body count or anything too gruesome. Also, the sirens in their original form are quite creepy looking.
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Sexy stuff: Peaches has a crush on Ethan, while her molehog best friend, Louis, is smitten with her. Peaches calls Ethan "hot." Diego and Shira flirt and eventually declare their interest in each other. Sid and Manny poke fun at Diego for not realizing he's falling in love. In one funny sequence, monstrous "sirens" appear as the opposite sex to lure Scrat, Manny, Sid, Sid's Granny, Diego, etc. to them. The male sloth (who looks like Fabio in sloth form) makes a suggestive statement to Sid's grandma about the "wrinklier the fruit, the juicier the fruit."
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Language: Mild insults include "idiot," "freaks," and "stupid." There's also some scatological humor about puking, farting, burping, etc.
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Consumerism: No product placements in the movie, but the Ice Age franchise has many merchandise tie-ins off camera, including Happy Meal collectible toys, plush dolls, figurines, games, and more.
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Drinking, drugs and smoking: Not an issue
Fan Reviews provided by
5
Ice Age 4: Continental Drift by fred1
It's the best one yet! The story was good and the comedy was great! I wasn't expecting much but was pleasantly surprised. Families laughed out loud together and that was great to see. You're going to love grandma and I'm sure an Ice Age 5 is in our future.
5
AWESOME!!!!!!!! by arden29651
IT WAS AWESOME! THE BEST ICE AGE IVE EVER SEEN!!! GRANNY AS WANDA SYKES! SHES WAS FUNNY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I ABOUT TO TURN RED IT WAS SO FUNNY! NICKI MINJA JENNIFER LOPEZ WANDA SYKES AND KEKE PALMER WERE ALL IN IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVED EVERY CHARACTER I WAS JUST NAMING SOME OUT! IT WAS THE FUNNIEST ICE AGE EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVED IT SO MUCH I WANT TO SEE IT OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER!!!!!!!! I CANT WAIT TO SEE IF THERES A NUMBER FIVE MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MY FAVORITE CHARACTER WAS GRANNY AS WANDA SYKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SHE WAS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO FUNNYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I ALREADY SAID THAT BUT ITS SOOO TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!! HERES A SNEAK PEEK AT WHAT GRANNY SAID TO SID! ( YOU A SCREW UP! YOU CANT GET NOTHIN RIGHT!) LOL RIGHT!!!!!!!!!
4
Cute Movie by mattandamy07
We took our little ones to see it last night and it was pretty good. There was a lot of hidden humor for adults to help us enjoy the movie, and it kept my boys' attention for the most part. They really liked it, but not as much as the other Ice Age movies. If I had it to do over again, I would still take them to go see it. But if you go, go knowing that it's no where near as good as the first was!...but isn't this true with most sequels?!
4
Silly Fun, But Over 'Celebritised' by alex121
I took my three kids yesterday, opening day, to see Ice Age: Continental Drift. The theatre was packed, loads of families, everyone was very excited!
It was a cute movie, story line was fun, very child friendly. However, humour was mediocre, not very savvy. Or it could have been from the casted actors lacking comedic timing, perhaps? The only thing I didn't like was it's deliberate 'Hollywood's On Board' casting. When you have a successful franchise like Ice Age, having a famous person in each role can really put you off. Almost as if the Director or Producers have little faith in the script/movie standing on its own.
The good thing is, my kids can't tell the difference between celebrity voices and common folk. But, we were all there to laugh and have a good time and we did.
5
Ice Age 4 AWESOME by robert.denooy
Went last night to see the newest Ice Age movie. It was one of the better ones that we have seen in a very long time. The whole family really enjoyed it.
5
For adults & children by sametcalf4
Since all other movies lately have drugs, sex, violence & bad language my husband & I went to see Ice Age:Continental Drift-what a wonderful surprize. very amusing and witty. And there are lessons to be learnedfor young and old.
5
Kids loved it ! by amanish
Had the kids go to it with one of our friends - they had a blast and made us promise to buy the dvd when it comes out !
3
Ice Age: Continental Drift by gandy707
Rated it "So-So" because I didn't enjoy it as much as previous releases, perhaps because one can get so much "mileage" out of this theme. I did like "Grandma" very much....added new humor to characters. Don't think it would be worth extra dollars to see in 3D.
5
Loved it by 1_Movie_Lover_1
Went with little to no expectations and was pleasantly surprised at how entertaining it was. Lots of humor and good clean laughs. The increased number of characters opened the doors to a lot more creativity and left the movie hoping they would make more.
5
Ice Age 4 by rsmundy
This is a great movie I took my grand kids to see its best one so far, l loved it very much it?s a 5 Star to me. You can't miss by going to see it with the kids or just by yourself!