Madagascar 2 - Back 2 Africa
I never saw the original
Madagascar movie. All I really knew about it was that it had the
weird-looking animated animals who shook their asses to that awful "I Like
To Move It, Move It" song.
Well, the sequel is here
and they are still booty-moving to that song and I still hate it.
It doesn't ruin the film.
Madagascar 2 - Escape 2 Africa has some funny moments - though in the
end it's not really a very good film. Little kids will probably love
it, though I can't imagine anyone watching Madagascar 2 for sheer
enjoyment with any regularity after they hit puberty.
Madagascar 2 has a
neurotic group of a lion, zebra, giraffe and rhino who are in the title
country but want to get back to their cushy homes at the New York zoo.
With the help of some wacky penguins and a possibly insane lemur, they try
to fly a plane home, but end up crash landing in Africa.
By odd coincidence, they
happen to come down where the lion (Ben Stiller) was born and he is able to
reunite with his parents. Ironically, the ultra-whitebread Stiller's
parents talk like they are straight out of a blaxploitation film - is that
supposed to be the Africa influence? His dad is the alpha male of the
pride, and he wants his son to take his place, but he doesn't realize that
he has been domesticated in the zoo and now would rather dance than fight.
The bad guy... umm, lion...
is played by the late Bernie
Mac, who appeared to be doing a spot-on imitation of Gene Hackman for some
reason. I swear, through the whole film I was sure Hackman was doing
the voice - but kudos for Mac, he really had the intonations down. I'm
not sure why, but it sure worked.
There is also a slightly
ridiculous but good-hearted romance between the giraffe (Schwimmer) and the
rhino (Pinkett Smith).
Some of it is a little
threadbare and not thought out enough. For example, there are some odd
moments where Marty the zebra (Chris Rock) comes to realize that pretty much
all zebras sound, talk and act exactly alike. I suppose they are
trying to say something about the herd mentality, but after being mildly
amusing for a couple of minutes, the gag goes on way too long and has no
real payoff.
Also, what is the real
point of making the bad-guy an elderly woman? This leads to several
uncomfortable scenes of a little old lady being punched, hit by cars, thrown
from heights and generally worked over. The fact that she is supposed
to be a mean old spitfire doesn't change the fact that they are beating up
on a lady who needs a cane.
Not to mention the fact
that all these animals walk on two legs is distracting and annoying - the
animation is not good enough to overcome this obvious error.
However, even though it is
very imperfect, if you take it on its own light terms, in general
Madagascar 2 is good natured and harmless fun.
Alex Diamond
Copyright ©2009 PopEntertainment.com.
All rights reserved. Posted: February 6, 2009.
