AMB Reviews

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa: 5/10 Stars

Release Date: November 7, 2008

Content Advisory: Rated PG for some mild crude humor. Several crude sexual and homosexual jokes, that will more than likely fly straight over the top of little kids heads. Several lions fight and one is shot, but, being a children's movie, it is not graphic in any way. An old lady severely kicks, hits, punches, and bruises up several animals, mainly played for laughs.

Review:

Several years ago, when Madagascar hit the big screen, I waited until the DVD release to even think about watching it. Finds out, my doubts about the film proved right, and the first one bombed for me... big time. Only finding the penguins humorous in the first film, I warily entered the theater yet again for what I thought was going to be another atrocious, "Madagascar" or "Open Season." Was I right in my thinking? Hmmm... yes and no.

In Short:

An unlikely quartet of zoo friends stranded on an island, consisting of a hippo, a lion, a zebra, and a giraffe, board an airplane run by penguins in hope of returning home to their zoo home in New York. Sound promising? That's what I thought. Then the plane crashed, and the animals found themselves in Africa. They meet more animals just like themselves, and together, they have to find water sources, beat evil grandmas, and cheesily learn to accept and love one another.

It was there that it hit me: where have I seen this before? Oh yeah... it was a couple years ago when I watched the first Madagascar. Although this film does deliver on some pretty good laughs in key areas of the film, I couldn't help but feel like I was being tossed the same, overused humor as before, a very similar plot, and many of the same problems that helped bring the first Madagascar down. That said, Madagascar 2 is not a complete loss. In the end, some witty humor and dialogue do put this installment a notch above the first, despite its imperfectness.

In Full:

Madagascar 2 begins with an intense scene of a baby lion cub being lost in a river, despite his dad's attempts to rescue him. In the end, the lion turns out all right and is rescued in a New York harbor. Where does that all come into play? If I told you that, it would wreck a startling revelation revealed only about a quarter of the way through this 1 hour, 29 minute movie. After the brief opening credits, we are taken to the island where the four zoo friends are stranded... Gloria, Alex, Melman, and Marty. Their goofy (and hilarious) penguin friends have finally managed to somehow find an airplane to transport them off the island and back to their cozy, Manhattan Zoo. However, as you already know, that plan soon fails, as their plane crashes in the middle of an African desert reserve.

After Alex is beat up by a seemingly "old lady," they stumble onto a whole clan of animals... zebras, hippos, giraffes, lions... you get the point. From there on, Alex discovers a shocking secret from his past, Gloria finds love with a large and muscular hippo named "Hot Hot," Marty learns that he really is unique, while Melman is promoted to a "witch doctor..." a fancy term used for just a normal doctor. As the story continues, Alex and Marty must find a water source for their clan, the penguins and a large group of monkeys must try and fix the plane, while many different attempts at humor are thrown at the audience constantly. Some of this humor works, while the rest you simply pass on by, laughing instead at its sheer unoriginality.

Does all of this work together? Does all of these plot threads tie nicely up in a delicate yarn bundle? No. But does Madagascar 2 still have its redeeming qualities and contain some nice laughs? Certainly. Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Bernie Mac, and Andy Richter are just some of the fantastic voices of the characters. Without them, Madagascar would loose so much of its charisma and energy. Almost every scene with the penguins delivered the laughs, as well as the "Karate Grandma," who has some sort of grudge against wild zoo animals.

Unfortunately, just because this film is able to make you laugh, does not make it perfect. Setting aside the instances of laugh-out-loud humor, the rest of it is dry, bland, and lifeless. The butt humor and the slyly veiled sexual winks grew old fast, along with the storyline. Sure, anyone who goes to see this movie clearly for entertainment, without putting another thought into it, will most certainly claim it's "original." However, looking deeper into it... you'll find that many scenes and plot threads are cliche filled. In the first film, these zoo animals are accidentally stranded on an island, and must learn to get by with the island's resources and crazy inhabitants. In this second installment, these four friends find themselves accidentally stranded out in the middle ofAfrica and must learn to get by with the inhabitants of Africa. Different setting, but nearly the same plot.That's notto say that it's completely unoriginal.You just won't findmuch in there that you haven't seen before somewhere else.

So yes,small childrenwill gobble this movie up like Thanksgiving dinner.But for anyone mature enough to look deeper into this film, than just beyond its thin, outside layer, you'll find thatit really is nothing extraordinary or mind-boggling. It's pure, clean, yet unoriginal fun. Anyone a fan of the firstMadagascar is sure to enjoy this sequel.Foranyone else, however, this flick can probably wait for the DVD release.Fun? Yes. Clean? Yes. Interesting? Certainly. Original? Mmm... no. Corny? Yes.Madagascar 2 is a mixed bag of candy. Open it up, and you'll find plenty inthere that you love. Digfarther down into the bag though, and you'll find pieces that you'd just assume toss out the window without giving it a second thought.