First things first. Ice Age (2002) was set during an impending, well, ice age. Hence the title. Ice Age: The Meltdown is, not surprisingly, set at the end of the first movie’s titular calamity. What would Dr Karl make of this phenomena that took place in less time than a squirrel could bury an acorn? Not that one wants to appear boorishly pedantic, but it sets one’s level of expectation very low indeed.

Which is where it stays while we take another walk around prehistory when mammoths, sloths and tigers make unlikely companions. With global-warming a reality, the trio dumps any pretence of intelligent design to worry about more immediate issues: like Manny’s upcoming extinction, Sid’s lack of respect and Diego’s fear of water – a significant problem given quite a lot of it is rising faster than our interest is falling. So far, so terribly predictable no matter the discovery of a girl-mammoth (Queen Latifah) who thinks she’s a possum.

And therein is the problem. Aside from two or three inspired moments (and nearly all involve the perils of Scrat the acorn-obsessed squirrel) Ice Age: The Meltdown doesn’t offer anything more challenging than a conventional STV follow-up: boys meet girl, girl breaks boy’s heart, mammoths repopulate the world. Surprising given the writer’s pedigree that includes The Simpsons and King of the Hill. Carlos Saldanha’s animated direction is as seamless as you’d expect, but with such thin pickings on which to hang it, there’s not much for audiences, young or old, to do but wait for the next appearance of Scrat. 

// COLIN FRASER