Review: ‘Madagascar 2’

Travis:

As far as sequels are concerned, ‘Madagascar 2: Escape 2 Africa’ does a decent job of living up to the first movie. Personally, I have to admit I am something of a Pixar snob, so it’s difficult for me to get excited about animated projects from other studios, such as DreamWorks. With that said, ‘M2’ does still entertain fairly well and offers an adventure for kids to enjoy, including  the  typical musical numbers  which are standard  with most animated features.

Generally speaking, ‘Madagascar’ wasn’t one of my favorite animated films and this goes the same for the sequel. The film is technically well-made, but I found the humor only moderately successful and somewhat formulaic. The one exception being the penguins, which as in the first movie, were extremely funny and well worth seeing. The ‘Goodfellas’  meets ‘Three Stooges’ persona that the penguins exhibit is classic.  The success of the penguin character’s scenes  in the film stand out from the other scenes, causing me to wonder if a spin-off movie would be possible, despite the animated penguin trend has already come and gone.

‘Madagascar 2’ basically picks up where the first left off, with Alex and crew stranded on a tropical island inhabited with crazy lemurs. They have just finished “resurrecting” an old WWII bomber as a way to return home. Unfortunately, the plane dies mid-flight and the group of runaway zoo animals end up crash landing in Africa. Alex and friends quickly discover they’re in their ancestral home and begin to learn a whole lot about themselves and who they are. The story develops in a way that enhances the lives of each of the characters. ‘M2’ is a great flick for kids and a film that parents will be able to sit through without getting bored. [Overall: 3 Stars]

Jeremy:

‘Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa’ is an enormous improvement on everything that was good and decent about the first film. Â  The first film had an okay story, some pretty good humor, and some half-way decent computer animation. Â  This is DreamWorks Animation, mind you, the same studio that made the ‘Shrek’ movies. Â  It’s not as down the list as some of the second-tier animation attempts of late like ‘Igor’ and ‘Horton Hears a Who’. Â  It’s not PIXAR, either. Â  That seems to be the big show, the brass ring that all or, at least, most animation films strive to be.

So, it amazes me to see the vast improvement in the animation from ‘Madagascar’ to ‘Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa’. Â  The backgrounds and the crowd work done here is some of the best computer animation I’ve ever seen outside of PIXAR’s walls.

But what is good about ‘Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa’ doesn’t stop there. Â  The story is a big improvement from the original. Â  It’s a funnier movie than the original, and this is mainly because of the wit that has been injected into the script. Â  Sure, there are the typical prat falls and visual gags that accompany any animated, family film. Â  Even ‘WALLE’ had a sight gag here and there. Â  But there is an intelligence in the humor about ‘Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa’ that doesn’t even seem to deserve to be here.

The story picks up right where the first one ended. Â  Alex the lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer), and Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) are all on board Air Penguin getting ready to literally launch themselves towards home. Â  Accompanying them on their flight are, obviously, the penguins, and the lemurs Julien (Sacah Baron Cohen) and Maurice (Cedric the Entertainer).

Needless to say, the plane does not make it back to New York. Â  Instead, it crash lands in Africa, and, with the help of a little, well-place convenience, Alex is reunited with his mother and father (Bernie Mac and Sherry Shepherd).

The story in ‘Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa’ is much improved from the first, because of the backstory Alex is given. Â  He was taken from his home as a baby by poachers and ended up in the New York City zoo. Â  He was a natural-born dancer, so he entertained the crowds well. Â  When he returns to his tribe, he is given a major culture shock. Â  All of the other lions are strong fighters, and Alex must cope with being the outsider.

Melman and Gloria are even given much more to do here than in the original. Â  They are each given their own subplot, which culminates into Melman finally expressing his true feelings for her.

Whoever thought of making every zebra on the reservation look and sound exactly like Marty was a genius. Â  That subplot would seemingly be overplayed before it even gets started, but hearing Chris Rock’s voice a thousand times over saying the same things is even funnier than you would initially think.

You wouldn’t think a film like ‘Madagascar 2’ would attempt to push itself as hard and as far as the film actually does. Â  For those who are dreading taking their kids to yet another animated feature with ridiculous talking animals acting in crazy ways, you shouldn’t dread it. Â  ‘Madagascar 2’ is an enjoyable film from start (literally from the opening DreamWorks logo) to finish.

There’s even some nice music to be heard here. Â  Hans Zimmer crafted a great musical score for the first one, something that is reprised here. Â  To build on that, rapper Will i Am took a piece of Zimmer’s score and sampled it to make his own song. Â  In fact, the two collaborated on four, original songs for the film, but it’s “The Traveling Song” that has the best chance of getting an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song.

So take your kids and enjoy ‘Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa’. Â  It’s a film that doesn’t take as many risks as ‘WALLE’. Â  There isn’t 40 minutes without dialogue. Â  It hits some of the same notes as would be expected from a film of this nature. Â  But it’s one of the more enjoyable animated features to come out in a long time. [Overall: 3.5 Stars]