Ice Age: Continental Drift 2012

Mary F. Pols, TIME Magazine: The frenetic pace masks an emptiness; this Ice Age is just a collection of slapstick moments and fisticuffs, with pauses for Sid to regurgitate food into his paw and show it to everyone. Read more

Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: It all would have been more enjoyable without all the treacle and pandering. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: "Continental Drift," like its predecessors, is much too friendly to dislike, and its vision of interspecies multiculturalism is generous and appealing. Read more

Soren Anderson, Seattle Times: The picture's a scream, courtesy of Scrat. Read more

Sam Adams, AV Club: Continental Drift feels less like an extension of a theatrical franchise than an episode of a middling TV cartoon, lolling around on territory that's already been settled. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: They keep pumping out more "Ice Age" movies, as if it were some sort of "Rocky" for kids or something, and if they never reach the heights of the best animated fare, they chug along efficiently. Read more

Tom Russo, Boston Globe: Dinklage works hard, and his gold-toothed monkey mariner is amusingly designed, but it's not nearly enough to shake the sense that we're watching elaborate filler. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: It's not very funny, but your kids might like it. For the record. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: A mild bounce back from the dinosaur doldrums of the last Ice Age movie. Read more

William Goss, Film.com: These films are generally good at being good enough, and the fourth installment, Ice Age: Continental Drift, doesn't deviate from that modest tradition. Read more

Megan Lehmann, Hollywood Reporter: It's familiar, drawn-out shtick, and the humor lacks the subtlety of the first and best Ice Age, but there are some visually inventive high points. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: The dialogue is sometimes too sluggish and definitely too preachy, the ending is a little too sappy, yet somehow this strange collection of prehistoric critters and their completely illogical life are consistently likable, if not quite lovable. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: Whenever I watch an "Ice Age" movie, I understand how my mother felt whenever I zoned out in front of the television after school. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: In the end, this latest "Ice Age" movie is about as surprising and unpredictable as a glacier. And not much more fun. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: Popping from one silly set piece to another is all that really concerns the screenwriters. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Kids will enjoy themselves and adults won't feel the urge to spend the duration hiding out in the restrooms. Some of the jokes are funny. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: The characters are manic and idiotic, the dialogue is rat-a-tat chatter, the action is entirely at the service of the 3-D, and the movie depends on bright colors, lots of noise and a few songs in between the whiplash moments. Read more

Amy Biancolli, San Francisco Chronicle: The plot ... just barrels forward with very few surprises. Read more

Jake Coyle, Associated Press: The filmmakers stuff the film to a manic degree, albeit with increasingly textured animation. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: In a world where family flicks are split between the inspired and the insipid, it's time to let Manny and his mates drift out to sea. Read more

Christopher Orr, The Atlantic: Yes, this is the part where I outsource my critical role to my children. If you are the kind of person who (quite understandably) abhors this particular gimmick, you may wish to stop reading now. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: The nothing-special Ice Age: Continental Drift is the library paste of movies -- smooth and flavorless, kids eagerly consume it despite its total lack of nutritional value. Read more

Derek Adams, Time Out: Frivolous fun. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: How many times do they need to reassert the message that family comes first and friends are forever? Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: This fourth installment featuring the computer-animated, prehistoric critters is aimless and derivative. While the first Ice Age movie in 2002 was inventive and cute, there's far too little here that's fresh. Read more

Jonathan Kiefer, Village Voice: The best bits are basic and all but voiceless: those Scrat-intensive set pieces, still inspiredly squirrelly if much too far apart. Read more

Sean O'Connell, Washington Post: Logic may be extinct, but, boy, do these movies whiz by like ice cubes zipping across a linoleum floor. Read more