Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Directors:

Eric Darnell
Tom McGrath

Writers:

Etan Cohen (written by)
Eric Darnell (written by)

Release Date:

7 November 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Adventure | Comedy | Family

Tagline:

Still together. Still lost!

Plot:

The sequel to 2005's "Madagascar", in which New York Zoo animals, Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe and Gloria the Hippo...

Plot Keywords:

Madagascar | Zoo | Giraffe | Sequel | Lion

Awards:

1 win & 7 nominations

Cast

Ben Stiller	...	Alex (voice)
Chris Rock	...	Marty / Additional Zebras (voice)
David Schwimmer	...	Melman (voice)
Jada Pinkett Smith	...	Gloria (voice)
Sacha Baron Cohen	...	Julien (voice)
Cedric the Entertainer	...	Maurice (voice)
Andy Richter	...	Mort (voice)
Bernie Mac	...	Zuba (voice)
Alec Baldwin	...	Makunga (voice)
Sherri Shepherd	...	Mom (voice)
Will i Am	...	Moto Moto (voice) (as Will.I.Am)
Elisa Gabrielli	...	Nana (voice)
Tom McGrath	...	Skipper / Lemur #1 (voice)
Chris Miller	...	Kowalski (voice)
Christopher Knights	...	Private (voice)

Also Known As:

Madagascar 2 (USA) (working title)
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa - The IMAX Experience (USA) (IMAX version)
Madagascar: The Crate Escape (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for some mild crude humor.

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS | Sonics-DDP (IMAX version)

Certification:

USA:PG (certificate #44773) | UK:PG | Finland:K-7 | Ireland:G | Singapore:G | Philippines:G (MTRCB) | Australia:PG | Sweden:Btl | Switzerland:0 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:0 (canton of Geneva) | Portugal:M/4 (dubbed version) | Portugal:M/6 (original version) | Malaysia:U | Hong Kong:I | South Korea:All | Argentina:Atp | New Zealand:PG | Peru:PT | Brazil:Livre | Taiwan:GP | Netherlands:6 | Norway:7 | Mexico:AA

Company:

DreamWorks Animation

Trivia:

When the head penguin asks to kiss the head monkey the monkey replies, "Alright, but you're so darned ugly" is a direct reference to Planet of the Apes (1968). In one scene Taylor (Charlton Heston) says to Zira (Kim Hunter) I'd like to kiss you Zira. Zira replies, "Alright, but you're so damned ugly".

Goofs:

Plot holes: At the beginning of first Madagascar film, Marty celebrates his 10th birthday, which would put his birth year at late 1990s. However, in Madagascar 2 it is shown that Marty is already at the Central Park Zoo (as a cub) when Alex arrives, which happens in 1972.

Quotes:

Melman: Listen Mototo. You better treat this lady like a queen because you my friend, you found yourself the perfect women. If I was ever so lucky to find the perfect women I would give her flowers everyday and not just any flowers, okay? Her favorites are orchids, white, and breakfast in bed...

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)

Soundtrack:

Born Free

You Got To Move It, Move It!

Rarely have I seen animated family sequel movie that's as good or better than its predecessor but speaking as a movie freak who didn't like the first installment, I gotta say I'm very much entertained by MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 Africa and it way funnier than the original movie. Dreamworks has a habit of doing this… what it lacks in its story and overall animation (Pixar still rules in those departments!) it makes up for it in its sense of humor. This is the movie that every age can enjoy and it has only a very, very few silly, lame moments but for the most part, you just got to move it, move it! The whole team is back, it doesn't take long for you to remember what each character is all about, there's no need for re-introduction but there is a bunch of new characters thrown in to the den without having to take us in unnecessary complication of having to understand what they are. The concept is simple and the jokes are funny. Here you see all the characters stranded in Africa and meet a their own kind. It's the freedom they've always wanted but don't really want at the same time. They have trouble fitting in and getting in touch with their heritage, all the while friendship and feelings are being put to the test resulting in an exciting adventure at the end that brings them closer together again. Kids will love it, Parents will be glad about it, and the rest of us will find it to be very amusing.

MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 Africa will feel like too short of a movie, but that's also something that I can appreciate because I don't think it has any intention of trying to be all Oscar worthy, it's nothing more than telling a light, enjoyable story with good moral value lesson and that's about it. If the running time were any longer, it would lose some of its target audience. Hands down, without dragging this review any more than it has to, the best part of this movie once again, are the penguins! Those dudes are hardcore gangsters and freakin' hilarious! They should have their own spin-off, stand-alone movie, just about them scheming something deviant and mission impossible-esquire. I could watch them work together and hear their smartass, cocky remarks/attitude about a thousand more times and they'll still crack me up. If you find no reason to watch this movie, then at least watch it to check out those awesome penguins.