Friday, November 7, 2008

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

“Hurry up before we all come to our senses.”


An attempt to fly back to New York in a plane rebuilt by the penguins (Tom McGrath, Chris Miller, Christopher Knights, Conrad Vernon) gets the gang off the island of Madagascar, but soon crashes them into the nearby continent of Africa.

There’s much happening here including Alex (Ben Stiller) reuniting with his long lost mother (Sherri Shepherd) and father (Bernie Mac), the mechanations of a lion (Alec Baldwin) who wants to be King of the jungle, Marty (Chris Rock) finally living out his dream as part of a herd, the penguins attempt to rebuild the plane with the help of some local grease monkeys, the return of that mean old granny (Elisa Gabrielli), and Melman (David Schwimmer) dealing with feelings for Gloria (Jada Pinkett Smith).

In style, humor, and story the film feels much like the first Madagascar. There’s plenty of fun including crazy moments with King Julien (Sacha Baron Cohen), Alex rediscovering his old blankey, Melman’s short stint as a witch doctor, and the zaniness of those penguins. Not all the humor works, the granny is given a little too much to do here for my tastes, but enough does to make it an enjoyable time at the movies.

If you enjoyed the first film you should have a good time with this sequel. It might not knock your socks off, but you’ll have some fun.

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