Penguins of Madagascar

The scene-stealing penguins from the “Madagascar” movies get their own spin-off in the 2014 rightfully named “Penguins of Madagascar,” and yes, I know this is my 800th review, which is hard to believe.

One would think a little of these eccentric animals would go a long way. Christy Lemire said in her review, “And indeed, this family-friendly animated comedy from co-directors Eric Darnell and Simon J. Smith is predicated on a single joke: the idea that these overconfident penguins—who fancy themselves as super spies—are completely bumbling and inept, yet they manage to wriggle out of every tricky situation not only to survive but thrive and save the day.”

Lemire continued, “But the pacing is so zany, the jokes are so rapid-fire and the sight gags are so inspired that it’s impossible not to get caught up in the infectious energy of it all.” The script (John Aboud, Michael Colton and Brandon Sawyer) finds enough paths into that one joke to the make the story look, if not consistently fresh, at least enjoyable. Thanks to the great voice cast, with John Malkovich and the everywhere Benedict Cumberbatch, takes this funny movie really seriously, and that’s one of the most humorous parts of all.

“Penguins of Madagascar” makes both an origin story and a spin-off, at it follows these funny animals on an adventure of their own. (The zoo animals from the original franchise are not to be seen here.) We begin in Antarctica, where a long line of penguins is walking across the harsh, snowy area to nowhere, because (as even they admit) they’re not allowed to think for themselves. Lemire said, “This is just what they do—and what the documentary crews expect them to do, in a knowing jab at the over-saturation of penguin-related properties over the past decade or so.”

Lemire continued, “Once the familiar, raspy tones of Werner Herzog’s narration kick in, describing the penguins’ dismal state in his typically wonderful, dramatic way, we know we’re in for a whole ‘nother level of humor aimed exclusively at the adults in the audience. Yes, all animated movies are crammed with self-referential jokes and cheeky pop-culture references, but “Penguins of Madagascar” does this consistently well. The fact that so much of the word play is so intentionally groan-worthy—including a running bit involving celebrity names—is part of the fun.”

The cool Skipper, voiced by the franchise veteran Tom McGrath, is the foursome’s so-called leader. Kowlaski, voiced by Chris Miller, is the smartest of the team and the group’s famous negativist. Rico, voiced by Conrad Vernon, the least developed of the four, mainly swallows things and makes grunting noises, but he’s useful immediately. Then there’s the nice and innocent private, voiced by Christopher Knights, the actual little brother that the other three have known from the moment he hatched.

During one of their secret missions, they find themselves kidnapped by Dr. Octavious Brine, voiced by Malkovich, a mad scientist who’s actually an evil, shape-shifting octopus incognito named Dave. Appears he’s been tracking the four penguins all around the world, offended by the fact that they keep beating him to the punch at different zoos and aquariums. His goal is to capture as many penguins as possible from around the world and inject them with a serum that will turn them into evil versions of themselves and make them look less cute and pleasing to the people.

(Lemire noted, “This was essentially the motivation of the dastardly El Macho in “Despicable Me 2,” by the way. He kidnapped nearly all of Gru’s minions, shot them up with high-tech jelly and turned them into an army of evil, purple minions to help him carry out his nefarious plan. I have a 5-year-old; I’ve seen this movie a lot.”)

Lemire said, “Skipper and his pals try to thwart Dave’s plan, but also on his tail (or his tentacles) is a group of legitimate animal super spies led by a wolf whose name is Classified, in a bit of who’s-on-first humor.” Cumberbatch voices the character with complete power and dignity, and to think that he has this and the voice of the evil dragon Smaug from the famous “Hobbit” trilogy in him – as well as the smart mathematician Alan Turing in the 2014 “The Imitation Game” – shows to his unlimited flexibility.

Simply from here, it’s spies vs. spies in a series of wild action scenes, and the incidents are a bit weak after a while. “Penguins of Madagascar” looks perfect for 90 minutes, and couldn’t have run any longer. Still, if you’re going around doing some shopping and looking for a small break, you’ll be happy you saw this spin-off with these penguins.

Look, I know this movie may not be good because it’s a spin-off focusing on the comedic side characters, like “Cars 2” and “Finding Dory” did, but I think this one is actually funny and I think this one should be seen. If you loved the trilogy, this one you will definitely like this one. Check it out and give it a chance. There are talks of a fourth “Madagascar” movie, but who knows when that will be, just like we don’t know when DreamWorks will come out with a fifth “Shrek.”

Thank you everyone for joining in on “Madagascar Month.” I hope everyone enjoyed it and hopefully there are those who have seen the movie if they haven’t. Stay tuned next month when I start back up “Black History Movie Month.”

Aquaman

Finally, I have gone and seen “Aquaman,” which came out four weeks ago, and now I will let everyone know what I thought about it.

Graeme Tuckett started her review out by admitting, “I walked out of 2017's needlessly tedious Justice League into a frigid northern winter night thinking Jason Momoa's Aquaman and Ezra Miller's Flash were by far the most entertaining characters in that benighted film.”

Tuckett continued, “Like you, I've been bashed around the eyes and ears too often by this DC Comic's franchise, with its patronising insistence on spectacle over storytelling, complete inability to acknowledge the inherent silliness of a genre based on middle-aged men in rubber suits saving the world by punching things, and scripts that have too often betrayed the occasional brilliance of the original comic books.”

One word: “Martha.”

However, “Wonder Woman” was completely great, with some actual jokes and personalities to move the turmoil forward. Now, thankfully, “Aquaman” is here to keep that good work going.

Aquaman is a half-son of Atlantis, raised by Thomas Curry (Temuera Morrison), a lighthouse keeper (making a joke about cooking some eggs with one of his very first lines) after an Atlantean princess named Atlanna (Nicole Kidman) is taken back to the Kingdom of Atlantis under the charge of falling in love with a human.

The mandatory and really familiar hero’s journey traits start showing really early, with a majority of the film taking place in the present day, a year or more after “Justice League.”

Tuckett said, “But, where DC in the past would have allowed their male lead to descend into a lifeless morass of weaponised moping, this Aquaman actually seems to enjoy his life.”

Jason Momoa is a really talented funny actor, and he brings a good humor and enthusiasm to this film which keeps it going along even though, or as a response to, the boring and predictability of the plotting.

A supporting cast is filled with terrific character actors helps a lot. Patrick Wilson can be boring and forgettable as Momoa’s half-brother and enemy, Kidman, Willem Dafoe, Amber Heard, Michael Beach, Yahya Abdul-Mateen and (no kidding) Dolph Lundgren all act like they’re more than happy to be in this film.

Tuckett noted, “I saw Moana again a few nights ago, so maybe I was in exactly the right headspace to make the connection, but Momoa's Aquaman truly reminded me mightily of Dwayne Johnson's work as the animated Maui in that film.” Momoa brings the same playfulness, comedy grooming and enjoyment to the character.

Unlike so many of DC’s characters, this one isn’t an orphan looking for vengeance and redemption. He’s a man with a home, a family and a reason to be happy.

Tuckett commented, “Or, as Momoa plays him, he is, like Maui, explicitly a Polynesian demi-God, complete with a shark tooth tatau adorning his arms and chest and a pounamu the size of your Mum's meatloaf around his neck.”

This Aquaman isn’t the unclearly Nordic character the comics once had. Tuckett said, “He is pretty much Tangaroa, God of the sea, and a more fitting Hollywood salute to the world's greatest ever sea-faring people would be hard to imagine.”

Tuckett continued, “I truly believe that any film which understands its purpose and its reason to exist – its kaupapa – will always find an audience. While the films designed to do nothing but turn a profit, are often the ones that fail the hardest.”

“Aquaman” does everything we want a big-budget superhero movie to do, but it also remembers (like “Wonder Woman” before it, and hopefully the rest of the DC Extended Universe movies to be released) to have a heart, and something other than just bravado to give us for even thinking of showing up.

I’m on board with everyone when I say that this movie is definitely the second best of the DC Extended Universe to date. I loved the action, the characters, the writing, the jokes that were snuck in there and even the visuals were just a masterpiece. Credit goes to James Wan for making this movie the way he did. Definitely more lighter in tone compared to a couple of the past ones. Another one of my favorite comic book adaptations, especially in the DC Universe. Don’t miss your chance to see this in the theaters, you will absolutely love this one, I promise.

Spoiler alert: In the mid-credits scene, David (Abdul-Mateen) is rescued by Dr. Stephen Shin (Randall Park), a scientist obsessed with finding Atlantis, and agrees to lead Shin there in exchange for his help in his revenge on Aquaman.

Now that I have seen all the movies that were released in 2018, let’s now move on to 2019 and the movies to be released this year. However, we first have to finish “Madagascar Month,” which will be next week, so stay tuned for that.

Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted

When you have something successful, you still keep it on. “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted,” released in 2012, knows how to impress their fans even it if doesn’t reach the heights of animation expertise that others typically get.

Wesley Lovell said in his review, “Seven years ago, DreamWorks launched one of its most successful film franchises. Starring the inhabitants of a New York City zoo who go out for a night on the town, but end up trapped on a boat to Madagascar, our quartet of disparate critters have faced numerous challenges including a flight from Madagascar into the heart of Africa four years ago.” Now, they continue trying to return to New York City, this time landing in the Riviera and joining a local circus trying to rum from a murderous animal control agent from France.

Lovell noted, “Madagascar 3 is a madcap adventure that adds a number of compelling new characters to the cast of the prior two films. Forming the base of the group, the familiar voices of Ben Stiller as the pampered lion Alex, Chris Rock as the flighty zebra Marty, David Schwimmer as the hypochondriac giraffe Melman and Jada Pinkett Smith as the feisty hippo Gloria each add the kind of familiarity that warmly greets you after a long absence.” These are the friends you always were fans of even if you rarely see them. In Africa, these four were joined by Sacha Baron Cohen as the moronic, narcissistic lemur King Julien, Cedric the Entertainer voices his smart, close lemur adviser Maurice, Andy Richter as a simple-minded lemur named Mort, and a gang of penguins voiced by Tom McGrath, Chris Miller, John DiMaggio (who isn’t in this film) and Christopher Knights.

While there are new characters introduced in the second film, none of them really show up in the third, but to replace them we have a crowd of interesting characters who have got to make an appearance in successful sequels. Jessica Chastain voices the beautiful jaguar Gia, Martin Short gives his crazy best to the funny seal Stefano, and Bryan Cranston growls his way through the film as the Siberian Tiger who gives one of the film’s main plotlines, mainly an accident years before that scarred him physically and emotionally.

With the maturity of Pixar defining much of the animation company in the last decade, many studios are trying to make more adult-friendly stories while still pleasing to children. The “Madagascar” franchise has wonderfully stayed a children’s film series. There is humor abundantly for adults, but its youthful delight and execution are exactly what the audiences’ need. I agree with Lovell when he said, “Unlike the insipid Ice Age series, Madagascar keeps its heart on its sleeve and continues to deliver engaging content without pandering to an audience base that has become increasingly weary of it.”

While it may not have the dignity of something like “Up,” “Wall-E” or even “Toy Story,” “Madagascar 3,” like the previous movies is an enjoyable and charming movie that audiences of any age can enjoy without feeling they have to find some deeper meaning. Lovell ended his review by saying, “This film preaches tolerance, acceptance and perseverance, but doesn’t gear those lessons towards parents but to the children who should be endlessly enthralled with its vibrant pallet and entertaining characters.”

In my opinion, this is the funniest of the trilogy. If you loved the first two, do not miss your chance to see this one. You will be laughing continuously from beginning to end and will love the way the story plays out. I give this a high recommendation.

If you think that is the end, it’s not. Sure, there is a fourth one planned out, if there was a spin-off that I will be looking at next week in the finale of “Madagascar Month.”

Bumblebee

Alright everyone, I have finally seen “Bumblebee,” which came out almost four weeks ago. Everyone is probably wondering if this was worth going to see? I’m glad you asked because I will tell you that. This “Transformers” prequel is actually good, which feels strange to say about a live-action “Transformers” movie. But that’s the only way to say it, really. K. Austin Collins said in his review, “The movie, which was written by Christina Hodson and directed by Travis Knight, is a warm and fuzzy origin story about a girl and her robot, full of handsome emotional beats, a John Cena villain worthy of a Saturday morning cartoon, and a soaring sense of minds changed and good triumphing over evil. There are big splashy battles, sure, and a little bit of political intrigue in the plotting. But this movie was unabashedly designed to be a kick in the feelings.” Again: strange for a live-action “Transformers” movie.

That’s not really in a bad way. Huge fanatics of the “Transformers” franchise, who are out there, have to say that the five “Transformers” films released, all directed by Michael Bay, have had a pretty consistent run. Collins said, “They’re all very much Michael Bay movies: heated, overstuffed, and greasy as old junkyard parts.” It’s actually good to change things up, particularly for a prequel like “Bumblebee.” Collins said, “What’s intriguing is that the film should change things up in this particular way, with A-Ha needle drops and a plot ripped right from the E.T. playbook.”

Say anything about Michael Bay, but at least his movies have their own names. Collins noted, “They occupy their own territory—albeit one I don’t necessarily want to visit often.” However, “Bumblebee” could have been directed by anyone, as long as they were working from the right book.

This makes it a nice time, but not a bad one. The protagonist of “Bumblebee” is Hailee Steinfeld, who plays Charlie, an 18-year-old Californian trying to survive all of the bad 80s hair, teenage social drama (Gracie Dzienny), and a charming boy across the street (Jorge Lendeborg Jr.). She’s confident and hardworking, but because the rules of being a 21^st-Century action protagonist, she’s also had some sadness in her past. Her dad has passed away. She still has her little brother, Otis (Jason Drucker), and mother, Sally, (Pamela Adlon), who has, alarmingly, a boyfriend named Ron (Stephen Schneider), a guy whose idea of a good birthday present for Charlie is a book encouraging her to smile more.

Charlie desires the same thing every 18-year-old wants for her birthday: a car. What she ends up getting, obviously, the Autobot she nicknames Bumblebee, voiced briefly by Dylan O’Brien, who at first look is a completely run-down Volkswagen Beetle. After a little repair, the massive, shy, yellow Autobot appears, as ashamed and easily disciplined as a puppy, and so do the Cybertron problems that brought him to Earth. Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) sent Bumblebee to Earth because of the war on Cybertron, only to be followed by the Decepticons, with one named Blitzwing (David Sobolov) removing his voice box.

Collins admitted, “The best scenes in Bumblebee are probably meant to be the heartwarming, humorously ironic bonding scenes between this young woman and her alien robot friend. But I perked up a bit more at all the other stuff:” the Decepticons villains named Shatter (Angela Bassett) and Dropkick (Justin Theroux) who came from Cybertron to track down Bumblebee, for example, or the military Agent Burns (current WWE Wrestler John Cena), whose only thought is to chase the lovable Autobot takes him amusingly off course.

Collins admitted, “There’s just a nudge more imagination in that stuff than in the central arc, which surprised me. Knight, C.E.O. of the increasingly inventive studio Laika, was an animator on the Laika films Coraline and ParaNorman, as well as the director of Kubo and the Two Strings. His studio’s been a welcome change of pace in American animation, a worthy counterpoint to the rounded-edge goody-goody vibes of most Pixar films.” In “Coraline,” the main character has to go up against the threat of a needle on her eyes, a villain who wants to replace her eyes with sewn-on coat buttons.

Collins noted, “In Bumblebee, though, the greatest danger is a nostalgia overdose: the same music cues, emotional beats and the like that have defined everything from Netflix’s Stranger Things to last year’s It remake.” “Bumblebee” is also more of a kids’ movie in look and feel than the previous “Transformers” movies, which makes you think whether there are really little kids out there who get into the opening scenes of Everybody Wants to Rule the World.

Despite the film is mostly nice, little of the crafty, awkward strangeness of Knight’s other movies seems to inspire his methods to “Bumblebee,” which is almost too bad. Collins ended his review by saying, “Because while I can’t even begin to imagine with Optimus Prime by way of Coraline would look like, and am sure that would not be a good idea, it’s at least an idea.”

I know this may seem strange that I would say this, but this is the best of the live-action “Transformers” movies. You should definitely see this, even though there might be a little of Michael Bay-isms in the film. However, he is producing it, so he doesn’t have complete control over it. Also, Jon Bailey aka Epic Voice Guy is voicing two of the Transformers, so give him support.

Thank you for joining in on the review, stay tuned Friday for the continuation of “Madagascar Month.”

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

These poor animals! First, they’re dragged away from the cages of the Central Park Zoo to be lost on Madagascar. Then they find a crashed Cargo Cult airplane from World War II, tape the plane together and try to fly it back home. Why would they rather be in New York? Can’t get a cab in Madagascar? They all belong to separate classes, but they’re comfortable with variety. Roger Ebert said in his review, “These guys would have turned themselves in to Noah.”

It doesn’t look like that plane will go all the way. That doesn’t mean across the Atlantic from Africa. It means across Africa to the Atlantic. Do they (or their audience) realize Madagascar is east of Africa, in the Indian Ocean? Ebert admitted, “How I know, I had a friend from Madagascar once. Beat me at chess.” Some people are probably wondering about the title “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa,” released in 2008, because they think the animals escaped 2 Africa in the first place. Ebert said, “Now shouldn't they be escaping 4rom Africa?” So they leave and (spoiler?) crash in Africa. Now they go up against the exact same problem like in the first film: Can wild animals survive in the wild?

They do a really funny job, which is exactly the idea. This is a brighter, more charming film than the original “Madagascar.” Ebert said, “I'll bet Dreamworks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg was hands-on.” When he was at Disney, he made friends with a lion during the filming of “The Lion King.” Ebert noted, “He even appeared with it on a leash at the junket. He looked more relaxed than the members of the press. Usually at a junket, they're the ones who do the eating.”

Every single original voice talents return, doing their original characters. What an ensemble cast: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, Andy Richter, the late Bernie Mac, Alec Baldwin and rapper Will.I.Am, who has one of those names like, as Ebert said, “his mother was frightened during pregnancy by a typographer.”

The look of “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” is open and bright. Better the wild savannah than the dark jungle. The action is exciting (sacrifices to a volcano, a fight for water), and there is a nice romance between Gloria the hippo and Melman the giraffe. Ebert admitted “I want to think Melman is not named after Larry "Bud" Melman, but I don't have the strength of character. Anyway, the prospect of a giraffe making love to a hippo is enough to set me writing limericks. Can it be done? I think it might be safer than a hippo making love to a giraffe.”

Alright everyone, if you liked the first one, this is better. Ebert ended his review by saying, “Your parents may like it too, although they may have to dash out for just a second to see "Soul Men."”

Like I had already stated, this movie is better. If you loved the first movie, then this one will be more exciting for you. Definitely check this one out because it is really funny, tells another story, and will keep you engaged throughout, especially the way it looks and the animation is beautiful. This review is posted on the sixth year anniversary of when I started blogging.

Look out next week when I continue “Madagascar Month.”

Mary Poppins Returns

Alright everyone, I want to thank everyone on waiting until I could finish off “Disney Live-Action Month,” and tonight I can happily say I can with the latest movie, “Mary Poppins Returns,” which came out three weeks ago. 54 years have passed since the fan favorite amongst families who love the classic “Mary Poppins,” and this really long made direct sequel does capture some of the original’s creativity.

After a half a century stuck in development, this finally got made with musical-friendly producer/director Rob Marshall in charge, and Emily Blunt filling in for Julie Andrews as the ageless Mary Poppins.

No need to worry: Emily Blunt is great as Mary Poppins who can sing, dance, act and surprisingly make a dirty joke or two.

During “The Great Slump” we see the Banks children have grown into worried and depressed adults. Michael (Ben Whishaw) is mourning over the passing of his wife a year prior (a sad way to start an about to be uplifting story) and worried about his sad young children John (Nathanael Saleh), Anabel (Pixie Davies) and little Georgie (Joel Dawson). Adult Jane Banks (Emily Mortimer) is also around to struggle a little, and she’s around when lawyers from the bank (Jeremy Swift and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith) arrive to give a notice that the family will lose their home on Cherry Tree Lane if they do not pay back their loan.

As it turns out, Michael is actually working for evil banker manager William Weatherall Wilkins, played by Colin Firth, and has shattered his childhood dreams to make this happen, but he’s not earning enough money. What will happen to the family, and even their loyal elder housekeeper Ellen, played by Julie Walters? Friendly neighborhood lamplighter Jack, played by Lin-Manuel Miranda, looks on feeling very worried, sings a few song numbers, and is very much a stand-in for Dick Van Dyke’s chimney sweep Bert from the first movie, however Miranda’s Cockney accent is not nearly as horrible.

Thankfully Mary Poppins returns through a kite and that famous umbrella to make everything right, and the new songs appear really fast once she arrives. There’s Can You Imagine That?, where she takes the kids on a journey to an underwater adventure by entering through their bathtub, a long scene copying the hand-drawn animation style of the first film with Chris O’Dowd and Mark Addy voicing a Dog and his Horse that finishes with Blunt and Miranda’s vaudeville number A Cover Is Not The Book, and a long scene with Miranda and his fellow lamplighters singing Trip A Little Light Fantastic, which is very much trying to make you think of the beloved memories of the catchy Chim Chim Cher-ee from the first movie.

Dm Bradley asked in his review, “These tunes are all pleasant but are they quite as fabulous as A Spoonful Of Sugar and (deep breath) Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious? Will kids 50+ years from now be humming them? Well, probably not, but they’re suitably sweet nevertheless.”

Bradley noted, “With a silly bit for Meryl Streep (the third Mamma Mia! alumnus) as Mary’s gravity-challenged cousin Topsy, a fair whack of icky sentiment and a certain forced niceness, this indubitably has its problems, but Blunt more than compensates for them.” She actually admitted in an interview not that long ago, “No one can out-Julie Andrews Julie Andrews,” but she almost does apparently. David Warner plays Admiral Boom and Jim Norton plays his first mate, Mr. Binnacle. Expect a cameo appearance from Dick Van Dyke and Angela Lansbury as well.

This is an absolute must for those who are fans of the first one, like me. I really felt the drama and emotions in this film, I loved the songs and I left the theater feeling happy, which is what I was feeling the whole way through. Do not miss your chance to see this in the theaters, if you haven’t seen it already. Go to the theater and see it because it was great for it to be released around the holiday time.

Well everyone, now I can thank everyone for joining in on “Disney Live-Action Month.” I hope everyone enjoyed my reviews of the films, as it was a lot to cover. But now that I have reviewed all the ones I have seen, hopefully everyone has been watching the ones I gave a recommendation to.

Look out for this Friday when I continue “Madagascar Month.”

Madagascar

Happy New Year everyone! To start off this great year, I will be looking at the “Madagascar” franchise, starting with the first film, released in 2005.

Kevin Lally started his review by saying, “Madagascar, DreamWorks' latest computer-animated comedy, tests the validity of that celebrated lyric from Kander and Ebb's "New York, New York": "If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere." The four Central Park Zoo animals of this tale are making it just fine in Manhattan: protected, pampered, well-fed and adored in their deluxe accommodations.” However, once they’re lost on the jungle island that the title says, making it to the next day completely changes everything.

Lally stated, “The notion of sheltered New York beasts removed from their artificial environment is irresistible, and if Madagascar doesn't quite deliver on its initial promise, it's still a likeable and loose-limbed addition to the ever-growing CGI family.” The voice actors of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer from the show “Friends” and Jada Pinkett Smith give their individual voices to the animals, but it’s a herd of disobedient penguins and an egomaniacal lemur king who are the highlights.

The movie starts on the tenth birthday of Marty, a restless zebra, voiced by Chris Rock, who has a mid-life crisis as he thinks the same usual schedule of his cage at the zoo. Marty’s best friend is Alex, an impressing lion, voiced by Ben Stiller, who loves being as the zoo’s main attraction. Lally said, “Completing the menagerie are Melman (Schwimmer), a hypochondriac giraffe, and Gloria (Pinkett Smith), a no-nonsense hippo.” At night, Marty successfully escapes and runs to Grand Central Station, where he wants to get on a train for the “wilds” of Connecticut. Alex, Gloria and Melman escape and find Marty at the station, but seeing a lion and his friends start a scare, and the four get drugged and sent by boat to the island. When those abovementioned tricky penguins take over the ship and sail the boat toward Antarctica, the crates that have the four animals fall overboard and eventually wash up on the shores of that beautiful island off the east coast of Africa.

Lally said, “Maybe this is a biased New Yorker talking, but the stronger sections of Madagascar are those that take place back in civilization (a debatable term when discussing the Big Apple).” The Central Park look, which resembles the actual place, is great and it’s a funny delight to watch a giraffe try to board a subway train. (The police horse who gives directions to Marty in a thick Brooklyn accent, voiced by David Cowgill, is also hilarious.) Lally said, “The shipboard sequence is another high point, as those penguins efficiently disarm the human crew, under the orders of a tough-talking leader voiced by Tom McGrath, who co-directed with Eric Darnell.”

Once the movie gets to the title destination, the screenplay has trouble keeping energy. Marty and Gloria adjust so quickly to their new environment. Lally mentioned, “It’s Alex who has the lion's share (sorry) of grief, suddenly deprived of his star perks and daily supply of grade-A steaks. For energy, the movie turns to the local population, a tribe of zany lemurs who love to boogie. Sacha Baron Cohen of HBO's "Da Ali G Show" is inspired as their ruler, a self-enamored goofball who hopes these recently arrived "New York Giants" can scare off their chief nemesis, the vicious, wildcat-like fossas.”

The movie’s one “deep” plot point is Alex’s difficulty with his own animal’s natures, once he doesn’t have meat and he becomes aware of all the possible animals all around him, including his best friend Marty. Lally noted, “Movie buffs will be reminded of the cabin scene with the starving Chaplin in The Gold Rush, and of how good the occasional Chaplin comedy would be for their children's movie diets.”

Lally continued, “Like the Shrek films, Madagascar relies a little too heavily on easy pop-culture gags-a little "Twilight Zone" here, a little "Planet of the Apes" there, even a sendup of DreamWorks' own American Beauty that will baffle the kiddies.” However, Darnell and McGrath also get something new for computer animation: a nice flexible look to character movement that’s similar of the wild artistic of Tex Avery and the Warner Brothers team.

“Madagascar” doesn’t really become a computer-animated classic, but its energetic performances, great designs and once in a while reflects of humor make a admirable start to the summer family-movie season.

If you have little kids, they will definitely enjoy this film a lot. I know I did when I saw this movie, and I think you will too. It’s very funny, beloved and has some great scenery with the animation making it look similar to the destinations in the film.

No surprise, the success of this film spawned two sequels and a spin-off, which we will look at for the rest of the month. Tune in next week when we continue “Madagascar Month.”