Friday
07Nov2008
Movie Review - 'Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa'
Friday, November 7, 2008 at 12:01AM | Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
Starring the voices of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, and Jada Pinkett Smith  |
It isn’t just the oh-so-clever use of a number in the
title that hints that this is a sequel –
Madagascar:
Escape 2 Africa feels obligatory and tired, like a lot of sequels
do when there’s not much story left to tell. Perhaps it fits this case better to
say when the wrong story appears to be told.Escape 2 Africa isn’t bad; it’s just not that memorable. And the things that were funny and different about the original film, which was released in 2005, are pushed into the background in favor of struggling storylines involving escaped zoo animals Alex the lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the hypochondriacal giraffe (David Schwimmer), and Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith).
In the original, these four animals were being sent to a reserve in Africa following their daring escape from the New York Zoo. Their cargo ship was lost at sea, and they wound up on the island of Madagascar. At the beginning of the sequel, the animals head home, borrowing a plane from the bizarre lemur king, Julien XIII (Sacha Baron Cohen), flown by the sarcastic group of penguins that ran away with the first picture.
Clearly, this is not their best idea, and the plane crashes in Africa, where Alex is reunited with his family. There’s a disastrous subplot involving Alex proving he belongs in the pride, a scheme concocted by the nefarious lion Makunga (Alec Baldwin). And then there’s love, not so exciting and not so new.
There should be a litmus test for sequels. And it should not have anything to do with how much money the first movie made. I understand why that appears to be the only reason follow-ups get made, but audiences generally don't ask themselves, "Well, the first one made DreamWorks about $400 million, so why wouldn't I want a sequel?" Sequels, more than standard movies, are driven by money. The first National Treasure, for example, was surprisingly entertaining and even smart. The second one could not take us by surprise and because it boxed itself into its own little world again, it wasn't as smart or as fresh as the first one.
So what if it made money? Big deal. It made that money off the promise of the first movie, not the results of the second.
I think the decision to make a sequel hinges on one thing: Whether you want to go right home and watch the first movie again or whether you wish you were watching the original instead of the sequel you thought would live up to it. Even though I didn't love the first Madagascar, I sure did wish I was catching it again instead of its milquetoast sequel.
Colin Boyd | Permalink | in Animation, Ben Stiller, Madagascar, Reviews, Sequels | Print Article | Email Article | 1 Comment | Share Article
Reader Comments (1)
All of the lovable characters are back – Alex the Lion, Marty the
Zebra, Melman the Giraffe and Gloria the Hippo, King Julien, Maurice,
Mort, the chimps and the penguins – in Madagascar 2: Escape Africa.
Came across a site which has wallpapers and other interesting trivia of
this movie..
Check http://movies.iexplorehere.com/review/756/Madagascar-Escape-2-Africa.html
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