Madagascar 2 should have got lost in Africa (Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (DVD))

Member Name: dididave

Product:	Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (DVD)
Date:	15/02/09 (140 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good cast list.

Disadvantages: Poor acting, Stiller is dull, plot is meandering.

Alex, Marty, Gloria and Melman have decided to head home to New York Zoo after their adventures in Madagascar. Unfortunately, their plane runs out of fuel and the penguins piloting are forced to crash land in the African Savannah. Greeted by Alpha Lion Zuba, Alex discovers he is Zuba's long lost son. In an effort to fit in he agrees to a rite of passage and gets himself promptly exiled. Can Alex prove himself to be a true King of the jungle?

Madagascar 2: Escape 2 Africa has bad cash-in written in big letters all over the box. From the confused, pointless plot to the poor performances and almost total lack of humor there is very little to enjoy here. The first film was a relatively entertaining bit of escapism with some funny sketches. This film somehow completely misses the mark.

The focus on Ben Stiller's character "Alex the Lion" is perhaps the movies main issue. Stiller is not a good choice for animation as for me he excels in character roles which can show off his deadpan style. Hamming it up as a show lion is not really his scene and the film suffers with him as the driving force. In the first film Chris Rock as "Marty the Zebra" provided an acerbic foil for Stiller but he is woefully underused and marginalised here. The sub-plot of David Schwimmer's Giraffe Melman secret love for Hippo Gloria is just bizarre and so many of the jokes just fall flat. Worst of all is Sacha Baron Cohen's horrendously annoying King Julian character. A marginal part in the previous film, Cohen is given lots of scene stealing segments but accomplishes nothing but being overbearing and irritating.

This is a film that seems to have spent a fortune on a cast list which includes Alec Baldwin and Will.I.Am but then forgot what to do with them. The animation, as always from Dreamworks is top notch but there is nothing to engage an adult or a child audience here. The overuse of the film's theme "Move It" is too much from the outset and why give hilarious comedians such as Bernie Mac such straight roles? In a film that relies on the interaction between animals it is ironic that the most interesting area is a sub-plot involving a an aggressive old lady and some tourists going native. There are lots of little pieces of action going on in here but none of them provide even an ounce of entertainment.

Madagascar 2: Escape 2 Africa is a pointless sequel that offers very little. It all comes across as a vastly inferior "Lion King" and suffers in comparison. With such a vast and expensive cast list this should have been a triumph. Animated sequels can be better than the original, "Ice Age 2" is evidence of that. However, Madagascar 2 is a soulless cash in that has probably killed this franchise for good.

Summary: A poor poor sequel.