By Jacey LaComb
The sixth film in the “Ice Age” series, and the first produced by Disney rather than Blue Sky Studios after Disney’s acquisition of the studio, “Adventures of Buck Wild” is a film that will probably please children and no one else. Released exclusively on Disney+ on Jan. 28, it is probably the most underwhelming installment in the series’ twenty year history. Despite showing some upsides, they are not enough for the film to stand on.
Rather than being animated in-house, the animation was outsourced, and it shows. The visuals are nice, but they are certainly not feature film quality. They are especially not big name studio quality. It is clear it was always meant to go straight to streaming rather than compete with other animated films at the box office. It all looks rather basic and not like the dazzling sights we are used to seeing in in 2022. Hopefully, this is not a sign that Disney is going to neglect their third party acquisitions, and instead is just a little bump due to the pandemic or the transfer of hands.
As far as the story goes, it is rather par for the course for a family film. Crash (Vincent Tong, “The Willoughbys”) and Eddie (Aaron Harris), two possum characters decide to stray from the main cast and end up in the Lost World. The Lost World is a callback to the third film and between that film and “Adventures of Buck Wild,” a new threat who wants to dominate has come to the Lost World. Crash and Eddie team up with former friend Buck Wild (Simon Pegg, “Ready Player One”) in his fight against this villian.
In the film, some hints toward Buck’s past are mentioned, but are never delved into. This could have made the story far more interesting. All the regular good versus evil plot beats are hit as expected with little to make it unique to any other family films of this type. It has also got a predictable training arc for Crash and Eddie as they become heroes. While all of this is happening with Crash and Eddie, the side story follows the rest of the “Ice Age” characters looking for the two. This side plot is awkwardly put in, and there is little transition when the stories switch. Jokes are also what you would expect in this sort of movie: Lots of juvenile humor, but not a whole lot of anything to entertain people over the age of ten.
The last thing against “Adventures of Buck Wild” is its almost complete lack of any of the “Ice Age” hallmarks. Most of the main characters play second billing to Crash and Eddie, who are typically characters that exist just for comic relief. Some characters are completely absent, most notably, the iconic saber-toothed squirrel, Scrat. This means there exists very little of the found-family charm of the previous films. It feels more like a spin-off than a full fledged sequel. When the main characters are present, their usual voice actors are also not present, and it is quite noticeable.
Lacking is the best way to describe “Adventures of Buck Wild.” It is a perfectly serviceable family or children’s film, but it could have been so much more. Everything about it is just okay. A child will probably enjoy it while it is on, but it will bore the adults who put it on for them. Once it is off, it will most likely be forgotten.It is quite concerning to see the already declining series at such a low now that it is in new hands. If future films would be like this, it would be better if they just stopped now.
Image from Walt Disney Studios via YouTube
