Whatever it is we did to deserve such a chilly reception from Blue Sky Studios, the stiff British upper lip has finally triumphed over Northern aggression and we are finally, a full two weeks after Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland, being given the groundbreaking gift of Ice Age 4: Continental Drift, out on general release on Friday July 13th.

Scraping the very bottom of the creativity barrel, 4 films in, the Ice Age franchise has succumbed to the lure of the only charming character in this saga:  the molerat/squirrel/porcupine hybrid Scrat. The plot follows Scrat on his pursuit of the great Cursed Acorn, which he has been after since the beginning of time (about five minutes ago). Along with his sabre-toothed lion, sloth and woolly mammoth buds – a mismatched group only bested perhaps by Fleetwood Mac  – the ensuing geographical disaster makes up the remaining 90 minutes of this epic-of-our-times.

Devoid of the kidnapping, child endangerment, negligence and homicide present in the first film, there’s no way Continental Drift was going to measure up to its predecessors in terms of cinematic brilliance, but when you consider that Top 40 favourites The Wanted are on the soundtrack, with Example-written track Chasing the Sun (didn’t we already have the meltdown?), and that the film was very nearly called Ice Age: Th4w, we may have to count our blessings.

If your nationalist hearts are not as offended as ours, the film is out for your pleasure/repeated renditions of Jerusalem at the screen on July 13th.