Ice Age: Collision Course review - Don't go in with mammoth expectations!

Director: Michael Thurmeier, Galen T Chu

Cast: Ray Romano, Queen Latifah, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Jennifer Lopez, Simon Pegg, Keke Palmer, Jessie J, Adam Devine

What's it about:

A mountain-sized asteroid is on course to wipe off all life on earth. Thanks to the acorn-loving Scrat, of course. As he bounces about in deep space, impending disaster is headed Manny (Romano), Ellie (Latifah), Sid (Leguizamo), Diego (Leary), Shira (Lopez), Julien (Devine), Peaches (Palmer) and the rest of the mammals' way. 
Manny comes to terms with having a son-in-law in Julian and with Peaches moving away. 
How they dodge meteorites, stride through electric storms and stay alive is what the film is all about.

What's hot:

The brand recall for a franchise like this is tremendous. Spanning five films over 14 years, it has a wealth of characters few franchises can boast of. Only in this one, would a mammoth forget his anniversary, a sloth could make for a swell wedding planner, and everybody would trust their lives in the hands of an obviously-out-of-his-mind weasel. Did I mention the acorn-obsessed sabre-toothed squirrel?
It's good to see Simon Pegg make a return after a one-film gap as Buck, the aforementioned crazy weasel (with Neil deGrasse Tyson making franchise debut in a superb turn as a science-spouting split personality of his).
Josh Peck and Seann William Scott's antics as opossums Eddie and Crash don't seem like a spent force, and that's a good thing.

What's not:

The film spends way too much time going through the 'Meet The Parents' and 'Father of the Bride' motions. Director Thurmeier returns for his third outing at the helm of the franchise, but is nowhere close to recreating the magic of the first two films by Carlos Saldanha, despite the introduction of laugh-a-minute characters like Granny (Wanda) and Buck.
The introduction of characters like yoga guru Shangri Llama (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and the pretty female sloth Brooke (Jessie J) are too little too late.
Some of the humour is derivative, some of it infantile, some of it a little risque (don't really know who they're targeting here!)

What to do: 

Don't go in with mammoth expectations and you won't be disappointed. It may as well be titled Apocalypse Averted, but that still wouldn't salvage this film's fate!

Rating: **1/2