When Disney don’t want to bring Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, and Denis Leary back, to still include them made this film feel lopsided. Not even the talents behind the possums were spared as we get new talents to voice them. The only returning performer is Simon Pegg as Buck Wild, a weasel who is no doubt a re-characterization of Captain Jack and Indiana Jones.
After a ruckus these two possums did to their extended family’s summer habitat. They believe it’s better to run away than work things out.
Somehow, they find their way back to the Lost World three films ago. They get rescued by Buck and through him, have to learn how to fend for themselves. All I cared to see was how important Buck would be to the future development of this franchise. Simon Pegg can do no wrong, and sadly, that’s not enough to carry a movie. He should’ve been offered a chance to write the story over Jim Hecht, William Schifrin, and Ray DeLaurentis. The latter two are better known for their offbeat work in The Fairly OddParents (contributing to 1/3rd of this show) and this film doesn’t quite hit the same beats.
My guess is that the executive producers insisted on a paint-by-numbers product instead of allowing this team to come up with their own original material. In what made this franchise a joy is in how Scrat appeared in the zaniest of asides during the story. This mascot of Blue Sky Studio is still beloved by fans and it’s a shame he’s no longer around. Instead of a classic Disney villian, the evil is with Orson, a dinosaur with aspirations to join the ranks of Dr. Evil from Austin Powers. But he’s not quite nasty enough to shake things up like Scrat ever did.
To be honest, it seems the Ice Age is over. What’s left isn’t worth frosting up again.
3 Stars out of 5