Hollywood Product: ‘Ice Age: Continental Drift’

Can you prove that ancient apes DIDN’T turn ice floes into pirate ships during the Ice Age?

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GENRE: Prehistoric mammal pirate adventure? Can that be right?

THE PITCH: When an earthquake sends Manny the mammoth, Sid the sloth and Diego the sabre-tooth (Ray Romano, John Leguizamo and Denis Leary) afloat on the ocean, they must contend with vicious ape pirate Gutt (Peter Dinklage) and his crew to get home. Meanwhile, Manny’s daughter Peaches (Keke Palmer) learns teenage life lessons about friendship and stuff, like the Disney Channel in the Pleistocene Epoch.

MONEY SHOTS: Scrat the squirrel (voiced by Chris Wedge) provides reliably funny sight gags, including a trip to Earth’s magnetic core. Shifting tectonic plates open up scary-cool crevasses. An ice floe bristling with tree-trunks and bones serves as Captain Gutt’s “ship.” Sid’s elderly granny (Wandy Sykes) takes her first bath in years and leaves an oil slick. The heroes have a hilarious encounter with a group of sirens, which might scare very young kids.

BEST LINE: When Diego moons over a comely smilodon (Jennifer Lopez), Manny teases him by saying, “I know what you’ve got! The ‘L’ word!” and Sid adds, “Yeah! Leprosy!”