Review of Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008) by Jeff B — 17 Aug 2010

Animated wise cracking animals are as much a part of modern filmic America as Morgan Freeman narrations and gored teenagers. Winding back to the 1930s, when Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny made the damn finest vaudeville players, H?Wood discovered a winning formula and exploited it?especially lately. Suffice it to say, audiences have been inundated with a lot of cartoon wiseacres as of late (Over the Hedge, Kung Fu Panda, W.). For one such film to stand above the rest, it would have to be remarkably witty with characters that are really darn, well, charming. Thanks to some perfectly ?tooned star power and a crack writing team that should be paid in gold bricks, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa reaches such heights.

In the PG-rated Escape 2 Africa, the Central Park Zoo crew (Stiller, Rock, Jada Pinkett-Smith) crash lands in Africa after hatching a plan to return home in a ramshackle penguin-piloted plane.

Now, this reviewer had not seen the first installment before going on safari, but this ended up to be one of the sequel?s strong points. With effortless breeziness, the movie catches moviegoers up-to-speed, gets the continuing story in full swing, and rarely lets up. In fact, such ace mechanics prove to be the film?s chief liability?when there is a lull from the near-constant zingers, however slight, the viewers really feel it. The celebrity pipes of all involved bump the fun-tastic (yes, your reviewer just used that word?get over it) factor up to Hatari-sized proportions, however, so no one need sweat this small stuff.

Bottom line: Mad fun.