Rooting for the asteroid in fifth ‘Ice Age’ movie

Five films into the “Ice Age” series, the franchise feels like the last 45 minutes of a house party that has gotten out of control.

Even the most forgettable characters return, and a half dozen more are introduced, to the point that it’s impossible to remember how everyone met. Who invited that elderly sloth voiced by Wanda Sykes? Are those scrawny rodents at the punch bowl friends with the weasel? Could someone just call the cops and end this thing?

The “Ice Age” pentalogy from Blue Sky Studios never aspired to deep thought. The films deliberately abandon any semblance of science and historic accuracy in favor of slapstick and bodily function jokes. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. As “The Secret Life of Pets” proved just two weeks ago, mindlessly killing an hour and a half on a summer afternoon can be a noble thing.

But this series has collapsed under its own weight. Even “Toy Story 3” had the sense to kill off a couple of characters. The makers of the “Ice Age” series just keep adding more, like cinematic hoarders.

The good news: “Ice Age: Collision Course” is no worse than the fourth entry, “Ice Age: Continental Drift.” After the movies had gotten progressively worse with each new entry, the decline has reached a steady state of badness. But there’s also no attempt at narrative momentum from movie to movie anymore. At this point, the storytelling team is trying to top the outlandishness of the last film, waiting to see if the box office is big enough for another sequel — and then starting all over again.

Because they’ve tried pretty much everything else, this movie’s plot is “Armageddon” meets “Father of the Bride” meets the sixth season of “Family Ties.” (Or maybe that last influence was “Lethal Weapon 4.”) Manny the woolly mammoth, voiced again by Ray Romano, is anxiety-ridden after his daughter Peaches announces her engagement to the bumbling but decent Julian (Adam Devine). While Manny overreacts and tries to sabotage their relationship, the rest of the characters fight to stop the asteroid that is hurtling toward Earth and about to cause their extinction.

All of the above would be fine, if there were compelling action on the screen. Instead, the “Ice Age” screenwriters seem to be making up the rules as they go along, distracted by tired side plots to give the other characters a reason to exist in the film.

Sid the Sloth (John Leguizamo) once again tries to find love, with depressing results. Denis Leary’s saber-toothed tiger and the girlfriend he picked up in the last movie mostly sit this one out. Another group of characters (*sigh*) is introduced, including a New Age llama, delivering the kind of punch lines that peaked in the 1980s or 1990s, about hot tubs and crystals.

Among the fresh voices is astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson as a weasel version of himself, dispensing science in what may be the least scientific movie ever made. That leaves swashbuckling one-eyed weasel Buck (Simon Pegg, introduced two movies ago) and prehistoric squirrel Scrat to provide the bulk of the quality laughs.

Scrat is basically Wile E. Coyote, his beloved nut always just beyond his reach, and he remains the consistent entertainment in the series. Scrat is in outer space this time, like Miss Piggy in the sixth “Muppet” movie, and Jason in the 10th “Friday the 13th.”

Hopefully the “Ice Age” series won’t make it that far. Blue Sky Studios has resources and talented filmmakers. It would be great to see them try something new, and remind us of how we felt when this party started.

Ice Age: Collision Course

Animated comedy. Starring the voices of Ray Romano, Queen Latifah, Denis Leary and Simon Pegg. (PG. 94 minutes.)

To see a trailer: https://youtu.be/Ohq6NmKMja8