Story
Ice Age: Collision Course is the fifth movie in the Ice Age animated adventure series. The movie begins as Scrat (Chris Wedge) tries to chase an acorn. He’s catapulted outside Earth, where he unintentionally sets in motion a dangerous series of events that threaten to destroy the entire planet.
There’s an asteroid catapulting towards earth, and the team of friends, including Manny (Ray Romano), Ellie (Queen Latifah), Sid (John Leguizamo), Diego (Denis Leary) and Buck (Simon Pegg), must work out how to stop it. Buck comes up with a plan that involves journeying to a valley where meteors have been landing and creating a magnetic space to divert the impending asteroid.
In addition to the main plot, the movie has individual subplots about many of the main characters. For example, optimistic Sid is still on a quest for his one true love, while Manny is a parent struggling with his daughter growing up and getting married.
Themes
Potential world destruction; space and astronomy: adventure and exploration; friendship and relationships
Violence
Content that may disturb children
Under 5
Ice Age: Collision Course has some scenes that could scare or disturb children under five years. For example:
- Several characters are slightly injured when meteorites land near them – they appear to be zapped with electricity when they touch the debris, which causes their fur to stand on end before they fly away into the distance.
- One character is exposed to radiation, which causes his skin to peel back and show his skeleton. This is presented in a very funny way, however.
- Several characters are forced to run inside a cave to escape a very hot, lava-covered boulder that’s rolling towards them.
From 5-8
Younger children in this age group might also be scared by the scenes mentioned above.
From 8-13
Nothing of concern
Over 13
Nothing of concern
Sexual references
Ice Age: Collision Course has some mild sexual references. For example, there’s a reference to online dating when a female character tells a male that he ‘looks nothing like (his) profile picture’. In this scene, the male character intends to propose, but the female suggests they break up.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
None of concern
Nudity and sexual activity
None of concern
Product placement
There is no product placement in Ice Age: Collision Course, but plenty of associated merchandise is being marketed to children.
Coarse language
Ice Age: Collision Course has some coarse language that children might copy.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Ice Age: Collision Course is a light-hearted animated family movie about an unlikely group of individuals who must save the world. Fans of the previous movies are likely to enjoy it and it’ll probably attract some new young viewers.
Because it has some scary scenes and themes, we recommend parental guidance for children under six years.
With impending disaster in the form of an asteroid rocketing towards Earth, the movie’s plot highlights the importance of people being able to work together to achieve common goals. It emphasises the supportive nature of friendships and the importance of having people around whom you can rely in times of stress or crisis.
The movie also suggests that it’s a good thing not to take life or yourself too seriously. This is how the movie’s characters are, even though they face danger and life-threatening events.