Madagascar (DVD)

This,from the studio that brought us Shrek and Shark Tale is a new animated adventure directed by Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath.After release,Madagascar quickly became one of the hottest films to see for the early part of the 2005 summer.

The film tells the story of four Central Park Zoo animals who have spent their lives in blissful captivity and are unexpectedly shipped back to Africa,becoming shipwrecked on the island of Madagascar in the process.

Alex the exuberant lion,Marty the zebra,Melman the hypochondriac giraffe and Gloria the hippo have a pampered life at the Zoo in New York City where they can show off to the crowds.Yet Marty,celebrating his tenth birthday,is becoming restless and dreaming of life in the wild.When he learns that the penguins are planning to escape he decides to follow suit.

If you thought that this was going to be another groundbreaking title that DreamWorks could add to their repertoire you'd be very wrong.Whilst it is not entirely a waste of time (hence 3/5) you definitely get the feeling that time could have been better spent and indeed upon watching the film you can't help but feel that the production was rushed.

The storyline is rather flat and it seems to lack the spirit of the likes of Shrek.The choice of cast for this film can also be questioned.Ben Stiller voicing the lion Alex and Jada Pinkett Smith voicing the hippo Gloria seem to be ok,but David Schwimmer (Ross in Friends) is a real mis-match when voicing the giraffe.
His voice doesnt suit the look of the character Melman and he becomes too annoying at times.

While this film is technically a "family" film,there are elements which in fact appeal more to adults.Much of it is built on the pop culture references,the majority of which only the adult viewers will get (this includes the inclusion of certain music).Additionally,while it doesn't contain "swearing" in the general sense, words such as "darn" and "heck" are intentionally used in a way that make it sound like they are actually swearing.

Do not let this put you off watching this film.Children love it and will be captivated by it.There is a good moral in the story that children will pick up on and will benefit from.
The animation,whilst bringing us nothing new,is still amazing to behold.
From the crowds at the zoo,to the lush dense forest of the jungle and even a beautiful tropical beach,this movie really is colourful and delightful to watch.
The quirky penguins who feel that they are true spies,out on a secret mission for a secret government agency bring a James Bond style feel to the screen whenever they appear.They are one of the highlights of the film along with the Lemurs,the King of which is voiced by Sacha Baron Cohen (Ali G) who is hillarious.

So would you be crazy to miss this?No.You would however be foolish to overlook it,as although it does not come close to the splendour of Shrek it will still provide entertainment for adults and children,at least for a while.

This review was written by Chris on 02 April 2006.

The penguins steal the show. In the sprightly Madagascar, a mid-life crisis inspires Marty the Zebra (voiced by Chris Rock) to escape from his lifelong home, a New York zoo. His equally pampered friends--Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller), Gloria the Hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith), and Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer)--then escape to bring him back. Unfortunately, their attempt at damage control persuades zoo officials that the animals are unhappy, so all four get shipped to an animal preserve in Kenya...only a squad of maniacal penguins change the destination to Antarctica. The quartet end up on an island where, in addition to meeting some hedonistic lemurs, they learn about the food chain--and that Alex is a different link on the chain from the other three. Madagascar doesn't achieve the snappy perfection of a Pixar movie, but it tops most other computer-animated efforts; the collision of friendship and predator instincts makes for an unusually gripping conflict. The vocal performances of the central characters is serviceable, but Sacha Baron Cohen (Ali G) provides topnotch lunacy as the lemur king, and the penguins--voiced mostly by the animators themselves--are the best thing in the movie.according to some but we love the monkeys

Alex the Lion, Melman the hypochondriac Giraffe and Gloria the Hippo leave the safety of Manhattan Zoo to bring back their runaway friend, Marty the Zebra who has escaped in search of 'the wild'. Unfortunately during their road trip around New York they are captured and shipped out of the country - only to end up in Madagasgar - where events take a strange turn and friendships are strained.

Whilst no in the same league as Shrek, this film benefits from some strong voice casting (Ben Stiller, David Schwimmer, Chris Rock), but it is the supporting characters who steal the film consistently. Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat, Ali G) voices the brilliantly egotistical lemur King Julian and the idiosyncratic monkeys and 'great escape' obsessed penguins are scene stealers at every turn. Buy this film - you will not be disappointed - plenty for both children and adults to like.

WOW!!!! Dreamworks, out of all of the movies made, this one gets the best review from me, Shrek wasnt even as funny as this, I can't remember laughing at Shrek or Ants as much as I did at this, Melman(the giraffe), is the most cynical yet funniest character in it, his silliness adds to the humour of by which I laughed at most, Marty(the zebra) also contributes highly to the laughs and so do of course the other two animals, the hippo and the lion. Great storyline, a good adventurous movie, gets less humourous to the end, but still a great movie, the penguins are also a bunch of highly equipped criminals, who are funny by far. Im 16 years of age, and I found this to be the best movie dreamworks have produced yet. Im not sure however, if the younger generation of children, say 3-7 year olds would find it funny, but I definetly thought it was a cracker when it came to laughter.

This has got to be one of the funniest animated movies I’ve seen since Shrek. The story starts with a plot by the Penguins to escape the New York Zoo and make a break for Antarctica. Marty the Zebra (voice by Chris Rock) decides that ‘the wild’ sounds like a place he wants to be so he makes a break from the zoo one night. His best friends, Alex the Lion, Gloria the Hippo and hypochondriac Melman the Giraffe find him gone and break out of the zoo to find Marty and bring him back to the pampered life of New York Zoo. Things don’t go according to plan and before they know it the four friends are on a ship destined for Kenya. They don’t quite make Kenya either!
Chris Rock is fantastic as Marty and David Schwimmer does a brilliant portrayal as whining hypochondriac Melman but the winners in this film for me have to be the penguins.

This movie is laughs all the way and had both myself and my husband in stitches. If you enjoyed Shrek then you’ll love Madagascar too.