It’s hard to believe that the first Ice Age movie was released way back in 2002. If you took your 10-year old to see that film back then, the chances are that they may even be taking their own kids to see Collision Course. Don’t you feel old now!

This is the fifth chapter in the franchise following Ice Age (2002), Meltdown (2006), Dawn of the Dinosaur’s (2009), Continental Drift (2012) and now Collision Course (2016) which is the longest running time of all the movies at 1hr 34 mins.

You may wonder where else can the storylines go?

The original favourite characters are back, Manny the Woolly Mammoth (Ray Romano), Sid the Sloth (John Leguizamo) and Diego the Sabre-Tooth Tiger (Denis Leary). But in number five we are also joined by a huge array of new characters.

As ever, the film starts with Scrat, the loveable but unlucky ice age squirrel who is still chasing that elusive giant acorn. This time Scrats efforts in trying to secure the acorn and store it away has an unfortunate knock-on effect that sends our furry rodent into space and consequently sets the ‘Big Bang’ rolling.

This is bad news for Manny and all the other mammals who are forced to hide in caves in the lower ground to dodge a meteor storm and worst still they also face an asteroid created by Scrats celestial snooker match.

Things aren’t looking good and the current occupants of planet earth could be following the Dinosaurs into extinction. However, help is at hand in the guise of a heroic British swashbuckling weasel called Buck voiced by our very own Simon Pegg, who has a plan to save the day but can they do it in time?

My feelings are that Collision Course should be Ice Age’s swan song. Anything else that follows should be consigned straight to DVD.

Manny is married to Ellie (Queen Latifah) and they have a daughter now, Peaches (Keke Palmer) who has a relationship with Julian (Adam Divine) and they want to get married. So a big parent / daughter sub plot.

Diego is with his partner Shira (Jennifer Lopez) and want kids of their own. Sid finds true love so everything seems to be looking like it’s working towards closure.

For me the film is saved by Simon Pegg’s Buck who is totally bonkers and belongs in a mental asylum but has a big heart and everything he does is for the good of his fellow animals. He totally steals the show.

The first film had that ‘3 Men and a Baby’ vibe but with an element of grave danger and maybe they should have stopped at three. But then again if the dollars continue to pour in, why upset the apple-cart?

In cinemas July 15 2016

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