Madagascar
3: Europe's Most Wanted is the latest installment of the franchise from
DreamWorks. I’ve always felt like the series was colorful, fun, and
easygoing, but nothing out of this world or extremely revolutionary.
That’s how I feel about this film as well. It’s amusing, lively, goes
down easy, but it doesn’t break any ground or have any real drive behind
it. It’s junk food in the animated world.
In
the third chapter, the gang is still trying to get back to New York,
but instead they find themselves in Europe joining the circus. The
circus gang is convinced that they are part of another circus, which is
why they agree to let them join their show. As they say, the circus
stays together. Before long, they discover that Alex the Lion (Ben
Stiller), Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the giraffe (David
Schwimmer), and Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett-Smith) can help them
regain their desire and love for the circus and infuse some passion into
it.
The
new characters that are introduced in this film include Stefano the sea
lion (Martin Short), Gia the jaguar (Jessica Chastain), and Vitaly the
tiger (Bryan Cranston). There is also a subplot involving a romance
between Julien (Sacha Baron Cohen) and Sonya the bear (Frank Welker),
even though there is a clear difference in their size. There is also an
incredibly skilled and gifted villain in the film named Captain Chantel
DuBois (Frances McDormand). She can fly through buildings with relative
ease, yet seems to have extreme difficultly capturing these zoo animals
on the loose.
Madagascar
3 is an example of a sequel that tries to throw everything and anything
at the audience. It’s fast paced, in your face, very vibrant, and
doesn’t slow down until about thirty minutes until the film ends. Kids,
I’m sure, will love it with the cute animals, over the top voices, and
high flying, in-your-face action. Personally, I felt like the film
lacked consistent heart, which didn’t come into focus until too late in
the film, a moving scene involving a tiger that has issues thanks to a
stunt gone wrong. A more balanced approach of heart and humor would have
made a more effective film.
In
the end, Madagascar 3 is a good time waster for parents that are unsure
what to do with their children on a warm day. For everyone else, it’s
purely a rental. I have not seen Brave yet, but it might be a better
choice of an animated film for a general audience. Sadly, I didn’t feel
like they were too motivated with this project, as it was way over the
top and a more subtle approach would have produced a better quality
film. The voice work is rather forgettable and it all feels a little too
ordinary, run of the mill, and just simply OK. DreamWorks has done
better films in the past, such as the Kung Fu Panda series, and I hope
their next project returns them to their previous glory.
Grade: C
How should you see it? Rent it
