Film Review

09 January 2009 02:45 BST

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

Directed by Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath, out December 5th in cinemas, voiced by Ben Stiller, David Schwimmer, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Andy Richter, running time 89 mins.

In a nutshell…

Disappointing, mildly amusing, oddly angular.

What's it all about?

Alex the lion (Stiller), Marty the zebra (Rock), Melman the giraffe (Schwimmer) and Gloria the hippo (Pinkett-Smith), find themselves marooned on the distant shores of Madagascar in this sequel to the 2005 animated hit, with King Julien, (Baron-Cohen) and the penguins along for the ride.

When the penguins' plan to repair an old crashed plane and fly it back to New York goes belly up, the motley crew are left to fend for themselves among the vast, wild plains of Africa itself.


Film Trailers from Filmtrailer.com

Who's in it?

Comedy great Ben Stiller voiced Alex the lion in the 2005 original movie and has starred in the likes of Zoolander, Mystery Men, Dodgeball and 2008 hit Tropic Thunder, his first directing assignment in seven years.

Voted the fifth best stand-up comedian of all time, Chris Rock is best known for his controversial live routines, while co-stars David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett-Smith are registered in the public consciousness through ten years of Friends and marriage to 'nicest man in Hollywood' Will Smith, respectively.

Ben Stiller and Chris Rock discuss the film below:



As an example…

"Do you mind going back? This is first class. It's nothing personal, it's just that we're better than you." - King Julien

"It's like deja vu, like I've been here before… " - Alex
"It's like Roots!" - Marty
"No, it's like deja vu, like I've been here before." - Alex

Likelihood of a trip to the Oscars

In a year in which the wondrous WALL-E and the surprisingly excellent Kung Fu Panda were released, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa has no chance of awards glory but might sneak a few nominations.

What the others say

"A notable improvement on its predecessor in every department." - Todd McCarthy, Variety

"Cartoons can get away with being serviceable and skillful without much creativity since they have an endlessly renewing audience. Madagascar 2 surfs along on such waves, entertaining youngsters while mildly amusing adults." - Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter

So is it any good?

A better question would be: 'How high is your tolerance for hackneyed, cash-in sequels?'

The kids will certainly love the film - though its intrusive, near-constant and unnecessarily loud soundtrack left many toddlers in tears at the press screening - and adults willing to disengage much of their cerebral cortex will again find reasons to laugh at Sacha Baron Cohen as the ludicrously-accented, high camp King Julien.

And while the animals remain oddly angular, animated backgrounds are a triumph. The African plains haven't been realised onscreen with this much imagination and scope since The Lion King and realistically portraying water is clearly now within the reach of the Dreamworks staff.

Commendable backgrounds and amusing backup characters aren't enough to sustain a film, however, especially one with a plot as depressingly pedestrian and sitcom as Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.

There are shameless lifts from other films throughout - probably intended as parodies, but smacking of laziness - and the one-joke character of the tough grandma from the first film has been given a nonsensically large role in the sequel. In the most risible moment, she cries "We're New Yorkers!" in a bizarre Dutch/German hybrid and the viewer instantly thinks: "Well, you don't sound like one."

As with the first outing, King Julien and the penguins are a welcome relief from the tiresome, one-dimensional leads - apparently, Stiller is neurotic and whiny even in the powerful guise of a lion - and there's enough in their material to leave adults sufficiently sedate as the unfocused plot zips between the principals.

Like almost all Dreamworks efforts, it attempts to paper over the cracks with interminable songs, supporting characters more likeable than the leads and crowbarred plot contortions and two saddening questions emerge instantly.

Just how does placing African animals in their actual habitat feel so hackneyed?

And what's next, a trip to Antarctica? Oh, God, it probably is…

5/10

Lewis Bazley

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