Should I Watch..? 'The Ice Age Adventures Of Buck Wild' (2022)

The Ice Age Adventures Of Buck Wild is a CG-animated spin-off from the long-running Ice Age series released direct to streaming services in 2022. Like the other films, it is set in a prehistoric ice age and features two mischievous possums getting into a series of scrapes in a lost land populated by dinosaurs. The film's voice cast stars Simon Pegg, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Justina Machado, Vincent Tong and Aaron Harris and was directed by series producer John C. Donkin in his directorial debut. The film also marks the first time that original studio Blue Sky Studios were not involved in the production, having been closed down the year before. Critics were not impressed by the film, citing poor animation, a dull narrative and the lack of previously established characters from the series. Plans for a possible TV continuation were soon dropped and progress began on a potential sixth film in the series, currently due for release at the end of 2026.

After accidentally destroying the Herd's summer retreat during one of their typically foolish stunts, possum brothers Eddie and Crash are chastised by their adopted mammoth sister Ellie and Herd founders Manny, Diego and Sid. Determined to prove that they could survive on their own, the brothers devise a plan to sneak away from the Herd to live independently and disappear in the middle of the night. The next morning, Eddie and Crash find themselves stumbling into the Lost World - an underground jungle paradise populated by dinosaurs as well as their old friend, one-eyed weasel Buck Wild, who saves them from quickly becoming someone's lunch. Meanwhile, on the surface, Ellie goads a reluctant Herd into trying to find her missing brothers.

Back in the Lost World, Buck explains that he is trying to save his peaceful community from Orson - a highly intelligent Protoceratops with plans to dominate the land with an army of raptors seemingly at his command. Realising that Eddie and Crash are in danger, Buck tries to escort them back to the surface and discovers that Orson has trapped them there. Buck must swallow his pride and rely on the help of a former friend, zorilla Zee, if he stands any chance of saving the Lost World - and his two young friends...

There's no easy way to say this but I'm afraid that ...Buck Wild is a near-total flop on almost every level. It's one saving grace is Pegg whose performance is as solid as his bravery in returning to the series for such a half-hearted effort. Not being overly familiar with the overall series outside of the original Ice Age, I was largely unaware of who these characters all were so being able to make Buck a memorable presence in an otherwise forgettable affair is a credit to him. Of course, it's easy for a grown man of my age to dismiss a film like this because it's not aimed for viewers like me. However, I did watch the film alongside two viewers the producers were aiming for - namely, my eight-year-old nephew and five-year-old niece - and I barely heard so much as a giggle from either of them. Not a good sign, I think you'll agree.

Given that the film was produced by someone other than original producers Blue Sky, there has been a certain effort made in making the characters look like their main series counterparts which, at this point, is something. A pity they don't sound the same as this film's shoestring budget employs a host of soundalikes that never quite match the energy and charm of former stars like Queen Latifah, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo or even the least dynamic sitcom star in history, Ray Romano. If you're new to the series then this won't be a problem but that introduces another issue - you won't know who these characters are or how they know each other and unfortunately, the film places a good deal of its narrative on the back of assuming you have prior knowledge. It's like the current crop of Marvel movies that automatically assumes that its audience has soaked up every other film, TV show and comic like a sponge. It's dangerous to make such an assumption as it can throw your intended audience off if you're wrong, as this film proves.

• This film was originally intended as a TV series but plans were changed during development, a fact that should be obvious by the extremely short running time.
• This is the first, and currently only, entry in the series not to feature Scrat, the popular sabre-toothed squirrel constantly in pursuit of his precious acorn. This was because Disney lost the rights to the character in 2020 although plans for a series of short TV films featuring the character were announcing shortly after the legal case was settled.
• This film also lacks previously established characters Peaches (from Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs), Shira (from Ice Age: Continental Drift), Julian and Brooke (both of whom first appeared in Ice Age: Collision Course). Not only are they never mentioned but their absence is never explained.

Even if we put aside the lack of some of the series' more popular characters and recognisable voice actors, the film still struggles to make much of a positive opinion. The animation is noticeably clunky in places, looking about as ugly as the very first Ice Age which is more than twenty years old at this point - which is an eternity in the realm of CG animation. For some reason, speech seemed a particular problem area for the animators as pixels were stretched and sprites contorted on screen, the first time I've seen such a phenomenon in any CG animation. Granted, the series is known for its particular aesthetic but this film just looked ugly, sterile and devoid of genuine imagination. Even the colour palette felt uninspired.

The film's narrative felt rather weak overall and the replacement of series stalwart Scrat with the chronically unfunny duo of Crash and Eddie feels ill-judged and unforgivable. There is a heavy reliance on slapstick and toilet humour which is clearly aimed at the under-10 demographic (not that it worked with my aforementioned family members) and it just never seems to engage with you. I didn't care about it or the characters involved. I couldn't work out why the titular Buck didn't appear on screen until about a third of the way into the film (although if you consider how much Pegg would have cost to appear in the film, this may go some way to explaining it) or why the villain was such a disappointingly weak character. It felt less like a film and more like the TV pilot it was undoubtedly intended to be, something which has been underlined by the fact that the forthcoming sixth film seems to be ignoring this film's very existence. Basically, it's been given the same treatment as Highlander II which seems harsh but upon reflection, I can understand it. This film does little to the reputation of the saga other than sully its once-good name.

Even long-time fans of the series will struggle to get anything out of this unimaginative and poorly made spin-off. It lacks nearly all of the charm, humour and warmth of the main series and merely reminds us of the talents lost at Blue Sky Studios when they went under in 2021. Buck Wild feels like a film cobbled together remotely during a pandemic, which it probably was, but that shouldn't excuse it for being bland, unamusing and not worth the effort.

Great For: presumably being written off for tax purposes, unknown voice actors getting their moment to shine

Not So Great For: fans of the Ice Age series, those who mourn the loss of Blue Sky Studios, anybody expecting the true star of the series Scrat to make an appearance

If this film were taken in isolation then it's a marginally less frustrating experience although still far from a great one. But alongside its theatrically released stablemates, Buck Wild looks borderline amateurish. The first Ice Age may be looking about as good as a frozen Neanderthal these days but it was one of the first CG feature length films to truly challenge Pixar's dominance of the sector back in the day and is still the best regarded of the series to date. While critical reception has dipped as the series has gone on, the box office totals have been more than healthy as audiences lapped up crowd-pleasing sequels The Meltdown, Dawn Of The Dinosaurs and Continental Drift. Sadly, the fifth film Collision Course failed with both audiences and critics and no doubt contributed to the producers thinking about taking things in a different direction. Assuming it is released on time, there will have been a ten-year gap between the fifth and sixth films so it will be interesting to see if audiences still have a desire to revisit their favourite prehistoric heroes or whether the series as a whole should be put on ice.

Dinosaurs have long featured in films, from the stop-motion genius of Ray Harryhausen's ground-breaking effects in films like The Beast From 20'000 Fathoms and One Million Years BC to Steven Spielberg's cultural cornerstone Jurassic Park. Sadly, few of these are scientifically accurate with many depicting dinosaurs as simply monstrous animals for humans to run away from. Even Pixar themselves covered the subject with 2015's rare (for them) misfire The Good Dinosaur. More recent examples include Adam Driver's one-man action thriller 65, the latest addition to the Jurassic Park franchise Jurassic World Rebirth and cameo appearances in the likes of the Transformers franchise (albeit in robot form - see what I mean about scientific accuracy?) and the Night At The Museum franchise.