Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa [DVD]

I did not enjoy the first Madagascar that much. So naturally I was skeptical about this one.But wrongly so, it would seem.Where the first film never seemed to go anywhere or be particularly funny, this film removed itself from that with a definitive storyline and developed the characters much better than before. Even the irritating King Julian became an integral part of the fun.It felt much more like the Dreamworks films I enjoy so much, with their individual style, offering something for adults with subtle humour and references and plenty for the kids with their wonderful animation and great comic timing and slapstick. Infact you might say that the later Dreamworks films are catering even more for the adults watching with their kids.This Madagascar offers a direct lead on from the first, having the ever resourceful Penguines fix up an old crashed plane, to fly the stranded zoo animals back to New York. They end up crash landing in Africa where they are all originally from, so obviously they all hook up with their native species and find out what like is like in the wild. Alex the lion meets his dad (voiced by the late great Bernie Mac), and accidentally mistakes a fight for a dance contest and gets his family banished, oh, and has to wear a silly hat.Meanwhile the Penguines hatch a plan to rebuilt the now twice crashed plane by hijacking tour jeeps, with hilarious consequences, the brave granny who beats up Alex the lion in the first film is back, and stranded after her tour jeep is hijacked by the Penguines creates a primitive colony of her own with the other tourists.It's all very outrageous, and very good fun. Usually I cant stand Ben Stiller (the voice of Alex the Lion) but in this his talents seemed well disposed, and his delivery brought a smile to my face.This film is a vast improvement over the first, it's funny, witty, has great comic timing and style, an easy to follow story, complete with hilarious side narratives and the return of the well spoken chinpanzee, which adds to the Penguines comedy routine.A great family watch, something for everyone.

Ordered as a replacement for a dvd that no longer played. My son loves this film

Madagascar 2 is a movie with a moral - accept your friends and family for who they are. As such, it's in good company; more and more of these animated family films contain similar messages (not least the Shrek trilogy), although where the original film focused on the friendships between the animals, this is more concerned with families and partners (with some hilarious couples forming!) Yes it pushes the message a bit hard, and yes, it's a bit trite in places, but there are some moments of comedy genius which more than counter that. The penguins are as brilliantly evil as ever, the monkies aren't quite as good, although the bit where they form a trade union and demand maternity leave (even though they're all male) is quite amusing. We also see the return of the batty old woman from the original film, this time leading her own tribe of lost tourists, although I think there was a bit of overkill with her character: once you get that the 'frail' little old lady could flatten Jackie Chan with her left-hook, there's really nowhere left to go. King Julian doesn't get the same screen-time that he did in the original, nor the little bug-eyed one that follows him around and I fail to see the logic behind a great white shark finding its way into the middle of the savannah. There's also a faint ecological message hidden in there somewhere; some damning (pun intended) commentary on the impact humans have on the wildlife around them when they alter habitats to suit their needs and whims. I just can't shake the nagging feeling that this is a poor man's Lion King with a few laughs thrown in; but the penguins make up for a lot, and it well deserves its 4* rating for them alone.

Our granddaughter loves this film and can now watch while on a car journey

This was bought for my youngest daughter as she loved the first Madagascar, this said though, like all animated and even most non animated sequels it is about (MONEY!!!) you can always tell when something was never made in the beginning, with a sequel even in mind, but when something is a success they quickly think, Holy S*** !!! we made so much money, lets crap out another one and try to rake in some more cash for nothing! this is Sad but that's the world of Entertainment we now Know. Anyway enough bashing! this is actually OK & Funny and kids love it! even though as an adult, i see it totally for what it is and why it was made, (MONEY, MONEY, MONEYYYYYYYY!!! must be Funny! in a SOULESS ENTERTAINMENT WORLD!!!!!!!)

This continues the story from the group being in Madagascar and trying to get back to New York. This time they are flying with the help of the penguins and extra guests in the way of King Julian and Maurice. Lots of great one liners and jokes - " who says penguins can't fly!" This time they end up in Africa, making lots of new friends (and enemies!). A great second film

Lets face it, sequels are rarely as good as the original. However Madagascar 2, pretty much manages it. Ideally you'd have seen the first film to fully appreciate the humour.Without spoiling the story for anyone not having seen this film, it follows on nicely from the original, has all the characters from the first, plus some good new ones, and develops the characters further with a good storyline of it's own and some new twists.DVD extras are also good.

This is great fun - if you enjoyed the 1st film you will enjoy this as much. OK then plot is a bit close to The Lion King - but the fact that you have so many luaghs throughout - makes up for a non-plot.King Julien is by far a much better character in this than the last - as are the penguins.Worth a purchase - as is the 1st - will re-watch this oh and the original (see below) Madagascar [DVD] [2005 ]