I like to move it, move it (Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (DVD))

Member Name: Whizz11

Product:	Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (DVD)
Date:	02/09/09 (62 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great characters, animation, soundtrack

Disadvantages: None

A great family film

Madagascar Escape 2 Africa

Alex, Gloria, Marty and Melman are back! We again follows the adventures of the loveable animals. Madagascar 2 is the 2008 sequel to the 2005 movie, Madagascar. It's a cartoon animation by the wonderful talented Dreamworks studios.

The film follows on in from the end of the last movie. We left Alex the Lion, Gloria the hippo, Marty the Zebra and Melman the giraffe in Madagascar after they had escaped from a New York Zoo. They had gone to Madagascar as a holiday and now want to return to New York as they were regarded as star attractions when they were in the zoo.

We firstly see a little flash back which I think was a good idea because it reminds you of the original story and tells you how Alex found himself in the zoo. It also helps the Africa story to take shape. Alex was born in Africa, a proud lion but was captured by hunters and some how found himself in America where he was given to a zoo. The animation of little Alex the lion is brilliant. He has these amazing big eyes and is so cute you just want to hug him. Alex the lion then becomes a hit at the zoo because of his dancing skills and crowd entertaining skills.

Fast forward to Madagascar and the quartet are preparing to leave on a plane flown by penguins. In my opinion the penguins are one of the funniest characters in this movie. They are portrayed as not the most intelligent animals and their antics are very funny.

Unfortunately the plane crashes and the animals find themselves in Africa. Alex soon meets up with his long lost parents who were fearful they would never see him again. The other animals also find out they are not unique as on the reservation there are hundreds/thousands of other hippos, zebras, giraffes, etc. Some of them love this situation, especially Gloria as she soon finds a male hippo who catches her attention!

Some of the quartet however soon find that their new situation is not as great as they first thought. Alex finds out that being the star attraction in New York does not really work in Africa and he and his parents are soon banished from the pride. He has to work very hard in order to restore order and honour to his family.

What I love about this film is that it has quite a few good messages for kids and a way to over come adversity. I also think that it has a great cast who really make the characters their own.

Ben Stiller plays Alex and you can really see his comedy side come out in the lion. Daivd Schwimmer (Ross from Friends) plays Melman the Giraffe. You can spot his voice immediately and he's actually somewhat like his Friends character which is a bit weird. The rest of the cast include Jada Pinkett Smith, Chris Rock, Sasha Baron Cohen and Bernie Mack to name but a few.

This film also has a great soundtrack which will make kids roar with laughter in my opinion and adults. This film, like the first film includes the song, I Like to Move it by will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas fame. It is performed in the original movie by King Julien and is hilarious. It is used at various times throughout this film although not as a big feature production song.

Apparently according to critics this film is an improvement on the original, with more fleshed-out characters, crisper animation and more consistent humor." As of March 19, 2009, it achieved a gross of $180,010,950 in the United States and Canada along with a gross of $422,297,228 in other regions adding to a worldwide gross total of $602,308,178.

The DVD is rated PG as it contains mild comic violence. It lasts for 86 minutes and bonus features include filmmakers commentary, activision game trailer, a jukebox section and an opportunity to meet the cast. At the moment it is on sale at Sainsburys for £5.

Summary: Madagascar - Escape 2 Africa