Madagascar (27 May 2006)
directed by Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath
starring Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, Andy Richter, Tom McGrath, Christopher Knights, Chris Miller, Conrad Vernon
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MPAA rating: Studio: DreamWorks SKG Script: Mark Burton, Billy Frolick, Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath Music: Hans Zimmer Running time: 86 minutes Tags: Adventure; Animation; Comedy; Family Film; giraffes; hippopotamus; hyenas; lemurs; lions; penguins; police; zebras; zoos Tactical strength: [6/10]
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for mild language, crude humor and some thematic elements
Marty the zebra (voice by Chris Rock) has lived his entire life in the Central Park Zoo but dreams of someday living in the wild. Since he only knows zoo life, he has a very sanitized view of the wild: pristine meadows sloping down to crystal streams and no predators -- not that Marty would even know to put predators in his dream. When Marty leaves the zoo for the wild, his other zoo friends Alex the lion (voice by Ben Stiller), Melman the giraffe (voice by David Schwimmer), and Gloria the hippo (voice by Jada Pinkett Smith) decide they need to intervene and bring Marty back to the zoo. Alex and the others do find Marty, but before they can convince Marty to return to the zoo, the humans surround them in Grand Central Station. Once recaptured by the humans, the animals find themselves crated up and loaded on an ocean freighter bound for Madagascar. As the animals struggle in their crates, the crates fall off the ship and wash up on an uninhabited beach on Madagascar. The four friends quickly learn that the grass in the wild isn't necessarily greener than in Central Park. The story progresses with a common break-up/reunion story: friends break up over tragic circumstances, they encounter an enormous trial that requires cooperation to overcome, and after passing through the trial the friends reunite in a stronger bond of friendship.
Most of the funny moments in Madagascar come through situation comedy where you put sentient urban animals into unfamiliar situations, like a zoo lion in Grand Central station. Some of the best laughs come from the side story about a squad of militant penguins determined to make their way to Antarctica. Just the premise of martial artist, code-breaking, ship-hijacking penguins deserves a laugh on its own. The Madagascar lemurs also have a great dance number reminiscent of a Radio City Music Hall production.
The voice talents do a great job at bringing personality to the story line, but also the casting leads us to some instant recognition. One can easily imagine the same plot with human beings cast with the same actors. We expect lots of sarcasm from Ben Stiller and lots of comic comeback lines from Chris Rock.
Gratefully, Darnell and McGrath know that their plot only holds up for so many jokes, and mercifully Madagascar runs a trim eighty-six minutes -- just enough time to enjoy the story and the laughs without getting beat up by the same jokes over and over.
