In his never-ending quest to get his beloved acorn, Scrat inadvertently sets into a motion a continental catastrophe that begins pulling the Pangean landmass apart. As the land rapidly begins to splinter, Manny the Mammoth finds himself wrenched away from his wife Ellie and his daughter, Peaches. His old pals Diego and Sid also happen to have been caught on the wrong side of the land drift, and aid Manny on his quest to get back to his family. Joining the three friends this time around is Sid's crotchety old Granny. Adrift in the open ocean, Manny and the gang find themselves caught by a prehistoric pirate baboon named Captain Gutt, who quickly keeps the group prisoner on his own floating ice boat. In Captain Gutt's company is the beautiful and fierce ice leopard Shira, who has no problem casting a spell over a smitten Diego.
The gang quickly realizes that a life of piracy on the open sea is not for them, and they formulate their escape. With the aid of a group of ground rodents, Manny and his friends take over Gutt's ship and head for home, Gutt in hot pursuit. Manny manages to reunite with his family, who help him dispose of Gutt once and for all.
In comparison to the other Ice Age films, the fourth entry is neither better or worse. Not a great film by any means, but if you are lucky it might keep the kids occupied for the 90 minute run-time. The humor is not necessarily bad, just incredibly broad. The thing with the Ice Age films is that they make the majority of their revenue overseas. Europe and Latin American gobble these films up like no other, and the studio knows this. The humor therefore has to appeal across language barriers. Watching these film as an American adult is an excruciating experience. I recommend letting the kids enjoy this one, and wait for the latest Dreamworks and Pixar movie if you want a film that both adults and kids can enjoy.