Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012)

Ice Age Goes Full Pirate — But Should It Have? 🏴‍☠️❄️


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🎬 Trailers

Also here’s the full soundtrack for y’all to enjoy.

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🧊 Non-Spoiler Rundown

By the time Ice Age 4 rolled around, you could already feel the franchise running out of prehistoric steam. But surprisingly? I didn’t hate this one. In fact, I enjoyed parts of it — mainly because Peter Dinklage chews scenery as Captain Gutt, a pirate orangutan villain who honestly steals the movie. He’s intimidating, funny, and actually feels like a legit threat compared to the weaker villains before him.

The plot centers on Manny (Ray Romano), Sid (John Leguizamo), Diego (Denis Leary), and the herd being separated when the continents split apart. Manny has to reunite with his wife and teenage daughter Peaches (Keke Palmer), but of course, hijinks ensue when Peaches is more concerned with impressing her mammoth crush Ethan (Drake). And here’s where the movie stumbles: the teen drama subplot eats up way too much screen time, and it’s… not great. It’s like someone stapled a Disney Channel Original Movie subplot onto an Ice Age film.

Still, the adventure with pirates and the animation of giant ice ships gliding across the ocean is visually cool. It’s not top-tier Ice Age, but it’s not the disaster some make it out to be either.


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🦣 Character Highlights

Manny (Ray Romano): Classic overprotective dad mode. Tries to balance leading the herd while worrying about his daughter’s “dating” life. Honestly, a little stale by now.

Sid (John Leguizamo): Still the comic relief, and still screaming his way through danger. Gets stuck with his “Granny” (Wanda Sykes), who adds some fun, but also some cringe.

🧓 Granny Sloth – The Unexpected MVP of Comic Relief

One of the funniest additions to the Ice Age lineup came in the form of Sid’s grandmother, affectionately known as Granny Sloth (voiced by Wanda Sykes). She’s introduced in Dawn of the Dinosaurs as this cranky, sarcastic, “too-old-to-care” character, and she immediately steals every scene she’s in.

Why She Works

Her attitude: Granny is grouchy, blunt, and endlessly sassy. Unlike Sid, who’s goofy and naïve, Granny constantly cuts through situations with cynical one-liners and savage comebacks.

The pet subplot: She drags around her pet “Precious” — which everyone assumes is some harmless animal… until it’s revealed Precious is actually a giant whale. That twist alone is peak Ice Age comedy.

Dynamic with Sid: Granny is the only sloth who seems less competent than Sid… but she also balances him out. While Sid is naïve and desperate for family, Granny is brutally honest and constantly insulting him, which makes their interactions hilarious.

Wanda Sykes’ voice acting: The sass and bite she brought made Granny one of the most quotable characters in the later films. Even when the franchise leaned too hard into slapstick, Granny’s dry, sarcastic delivery still landed.


Example of Humor

She’ll say things like, “Back in my day, we didn’t have all this running around… we just laid there and waited to die.” That grim humor was such a contrast to the rest of the herd’s optimism that it genuinely made her stand out.


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Why She’s Memorable

Granny didn’t just work because of the jokes — she worked because she broke the formula. By the third movie, the main herd’s banter had started to feel predictable. Granny was unpredictable, always adding chaos and sarcastic punchlines that helped keep the humor fresh.

In short: She was the kind of side character that proved sometimes the funniest role in a family movie comes from the grumpiest, most brutally honest character.

Diego (Denis Leary): The only one still trying to look cool. Spoiler: he kind of succeeds. He also gets a love interest, Shira (Jennifer Lopez), a sabertooth pirate.

Captain Gutt (Peter Dinklage): The MVP. He’s menacing, dramatic, and makes every line sound like Shakespearean pirate poetry. Honestly, without him this movie would sink.

Peaches (Keke Palmer): The angsty teen mammoth. Wants to impress her crush, which leads to some eye-roll-worthy drama.

Ethan (Drake): The crush. Basically a walking “meh.”

🦥 Sid the Sloth: Love Him or Hate Him?

Sid (voiced by John Leguizamo) is one of those animated characters who manages to be both enduring and incredibly annoying at the same time. On one hand, he’s the comic relief — bumbling, clueless, always tripping over his own words, and somehow surviving situations no sane sloth should. He’s often the heart of the herd, the one trying to hold everyone together with loyalty and optimism, even when he’s screwing everything up. That makes him memorable and even kind of lovable.

But let’s be real: Sid’s antics can grate on you. His lisp, his constant whining, his complete lack of survival instincts — sometimes you want to reach into the screen and say, “Please stop talking for five minutes.” He’s the type of character where kids find him hilarious, but adults might roll their eyes after the fifth “Sid moment” in a row.

That duality is what makes him stick, though. Sid’s not cool like Diego or noble like Manny — he’s pathetic, irritating, loyal, and somehow iconic all rolled into one. He’s proof that sometimes the “annoying character” ends up being the most enduring.


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🌊 Pros & Cons

Pros:

Peter Dinklage’s Captain Gutt is easily the best villain since the franchise started.

Pirate ship battles on icebergs are a fun visual idea.

Still has that Ice Age charm and humor in parts.

I mean, just listen to this and credit scene. I love the song and it’s campy in a funny way.

Cons:

The Peaches teen romance subplot drags the pacing.

Granny jokes get old fast.

Feels like a side quest more than a main installment.

The heart isn’t as strong here compared to the first or third film.



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📝 Final Thoughts

I get why people hate on Continental Drift. It’s bloated, tonally uneven, and has one of the weakest “family lessons” of the series. But at the same time, I can’t lie: I enjoyed watching pirates led by Peter Dinklage fight Manny and the gang. The villain was so compelling he actually outshined the main characters. That’s both a compliment and a problem.

Final Rating: 7/10


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⚠️ Spoilers Ahead – You’ve Been Warned ⚠️

The film kicks off with Scrat (of course) causing the literal breakup of the continents. Manny, Diego, Sid, and Granny get separated from Ellie and Peaches, ending up adrift on an iceberg. Out at sea, they encounter Captain Gutt and his crew of pirate animals. Gutt offers Manny and his herd a choice: join the pirates or die. Manny, being Manny, refuses, which sets up the central conflict.

Meanwhile, Peaches is back on land trying to impress her crush Ethan, ditching her real friends in the process. This subplot drags, but it’s supposed to tie into Manny’s fears of losing his daughter.

On the pirate ship, Diego clashes with Shira, Gutt’s second-in-command, leading to a rivalry that eventually blossoms into romance (because… why not, I guess?). Manny hatches a plan to escape the pirates, which leads to some big battles on ice ships. The visuals here are the highlight: towering waves, clashing icebergs, and pirates swinging through the chaos.

The climax comes when Gutt captures Ellie and Peaches, forcing Manny into a final showdown. The fight between Manny and Gutt is actually intense — Gutt is brutal and keeps coming back like a true menace. Eventually, Manny outsmarts him, and Gutt is flung off into the ocean, presumably eaten by a giant crab. It’s a dark but fitting end for such a vicious villain.

The herd reunites, Peaches apologizes for being a brat, and Diego officially brings Shira into the family. Everything ends happily, and Scrat once again gets the short end of the stick — stranded in “Scratlantis,” which sinks.


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👉 So yeah, Ice Age 4 is messy, but it gave us one of the franchise’s best villains and some great set pieces. Honestly, that’s enough for me to give it a 7/10.