The latest “Ice Age” sequel opens today. Can anyone out there honestly say they’ve been looking forward to it?

The original movie was a mild entertainment a decade ago, but since then the franchise has fallen into the category of dull but safe time-wasters — a fallback strategy for divorced dads and fed-up au pairs.

In fact, the movies have all become a bit of a blur; I was surprised to realize this is the fourth film in the series. Somewhere along the way, I forgot about one of them entirely.

I fear “Ice Age: Continental Drift” will soon join it.

Even at its best, the series never had a strong approach or point of view. The main story always had a woolly mammoth, a saber-toothed tiger and a sloth pushing some friends-and-family-are-important message, which is intercut with the silent, slightly sadistic trials of an acorn-hungry saber-toothed squirrel.

Add to that an extremely loose approach to history — no one’s expecting a National Geographic special here, but one episode even brought in dinosaurs — and you get the whole sloppy picture.