Acorn-loving rodent Scrat inadvertently puts a comet on a collision course with Earth (don't ask!), following which our mismatched mammals have a world to save. And, all the while, dad Manny is having to deal with daughter Peaches' plans to go travelling with idiot boyfriend Julian. Assuming mammoths have boyfriends, of course.

The fifth entry in the Ice Age saga once again finds a potentially earth-shattering disaster sharing centre stage with the soapy shenanigans of the main cast (as well as Peaches and Julian causing Manny heartache, Sid the Sloth actually has sufficient love-life for it to be causing him problems).

The impending cometary collision is caused by Scrat pursuing acorns onto a flying saucer, frozen in ice, and then inadvertently piloting it into orbital disaster (fortunately, all the planetary bodies in the solar system are within about a hundred yards of each other, but it's a bit foolish of me to sarcastically make this point about a film featuring a cast of friendly talking mammoths, sloths, and sabre-tooth tigers). Scrat's stuff is, as always, comical knockabout humour and, for me, it was the best part of the film.

The disaster plot fell a bit flat, as did Manny's concerns - these elements felt like little more than revisiting the difficulties in Continental Drift, and set me to wondering if these characters have now reached the end of their shelf life. They are pleasant enough company, but do they need to break new ground and, if so, how?

Something else which seemed problematic to me was the CGI. The original character designs, of necessity, were blocky and relatively low on detail (CGI has moved on a lot in 14 years), and I've got used to CGI movies looking a great deal slicker than Ice Age 5 - which needs to share an aesthetic with its predecessors - does. Oh, it has moved on, but it has a tricky line to tread.

The voice cast does fine, as always, and I suspect that this will sit happily in a 5-movie set but, to me, it felt as if this series has reached the end of the road.

Having really enjoyed the first two 'Ice Age' films, the other three films in the franchise weren't as good. 'Dawn of the Dinosaurs' was still entertaining though, but while 'Continental Drift' had its great things (like Captain Gutt) it did feel like a sequel too far.

If one thought that 'Continental Drift' was a sequel too far, while there are still good things here 'Collision Course' does feel like the writers were trying to keep things afloat by putting in as much mileage and material as possible but it all feels like a try-too-hard effort. 'Collision Course' is not a terrible film but this reviewer found it a huge disappointment.

The best thing about 'Collision Course' is the animation, which is fantastic and the one thing that has improved greatly over-time. For me, especially in the space scenes with Scrat and with Buck it is the best-looking film in the franchise, there is so much eye-popping detail, the characters move easily and look more refined and one really cannot get enough of the vibrant, rich colours. The soundtrack is catchy, upbeat and whimsical, with an inspired riff on Figaro with Buck's playful re-introduction.

While the laughs do not come consistently, there are definitely moments and they come from Scrat (especially the opening scene, which is the funniest scene in the film), who's had more inspired material but the facial expressions, physical comedy and the visuals in general help stop making Scrat too much of a tiresome one-joke character, and with Buck when re-introduced. The voice acting is still very good, the most enthusiastic coming from Simon Pegg. Scrat and Buck, making a welcome return, are scene-stealing characters, Diego is fun enough if not as showy or with as much to do and Ellie provides some sincerity and heart, her scene with Manny providing a rare note of realism to the film.

However, 'Collision Course' suffers from being over-stuffed, over-complicated and bloated. Not just the story, which is pretty all-over-the-place, with too much that is rushed and like too much is going on with potentially great plot strands not being developed enough or given short shrift. The whole Manny trying to come to terms with his daughter planning to move away is completely lost amidst everything else and that could have brought some heart to the film, Sid's romance is rushed and painfully contrived and really there was really no need for the antagonists.

But also the characters, it does feel like there are too many in the film, with too many of them also having barely any screen time, and the only really interesting ones are Buck, Scrat and Ellie. Diego isn't in it enough though does just fine when he's there and is still a lot of fun, and Manny is pretty dull. Sid is very annoying this time round, and as said the antagonists felt thrown in for the sake of "needing" obligatory" antagonists and were underwritten, non-threatening, barely interesting and basically completely unnecessary with their motivations dealt with in a very generic and self-aware way. The script has some witty moments, but is too hit-and-miss and stop-start, the laughs coming too far and between and the best moments don't come to the level of the franchise's very best moments.

All in all, disappointing and definitely feels even more of a sequel too far than 'Continental Drift'. The animation is fantastic and there are definitely some good moments, but the tiredness of the material and the story bloating hurts it quite severely. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Scrat's hunt for the acorn leads him into a spaceship buried in the ice. He accidentally flies into space and sets asteroids on a collision course with earth. Back on the ground, Peaches and Julian want to get married. It's Manny and Ellie's anniversary when some of the asteroids start crashing onto the ground. Buck the weasel explains a prophecy set in stone about an asteroid destroying the world. The gang sets off to stop the forewarn catastrophe opposed by a family of dino-birds.

The Ice Age franchise has always played fast and loose with facts and reality. This goes way too far and makes less sense than anything from before. It is sound and fury signifying nothing. The story rambles on and on. The squirrel is still the funniest part of the movie. If they want to go into space, why not have aliens take the whole gang and have some fun with that. This is a lot of unfunny non-sense. It's only saving grace may be its brightly-colored wackiness which may delight the youngest crowd. The story is too much of a mess for anybody with a developed brain.