'Madagascar' - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

'Madagascar': Cartoon craziness with grown-up humor

By MELINDA ENNIS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A zebra with a midlife crisis, a lion on a star-trip, a hypochondriacal giraffe and a platoon of penguins are just part of the manic menagerie in "Madagascar." This tale of zoo animals on the loose in New York City and in the wild provides us with a winning combination of state-of-the-art 3-D-like animation and plenty of Looney Tunes-style comedy. Like Looney Tunes, there's cartoon craziness for the kids and knowing, "wink-wink" humor to keep the grown-ups giggling and guessing at the film allusions that fill the clever script.

Dreamworks SKG

'Madagascar'

The verdict: This escape from New York by a pack of zoo animals is fun for the whole herd.

Directors: Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath
Starring: Andy Richter, Cedric the Entertainer, Sacha Baron Cohen, Chris Knights, Tom McGrath
Run time: 80 minutes
Release date: May 27, 2005
Rating: PG for mild language, crude humor and some thematic elements.
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Most of the animals in New York's Central Park zoo are perfectly happy with the pampered luxury provided by their zookeepers. We open on a school field trip day, which gives Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller) a chance to preen for his adoring public. He is the Willie B. of the Big Apple and the superstar featured on most of the gift shop merchandise.

But Alex's best friend, Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock), has turned 10 and is facing a midlife crisis. He doesn't know if he is black with white stripes or white with black stripes. And he dreams of a world outside captivity (scored to the strains of "Born Free").

His dreams are shared by the penguins, who are trying to tunnel their way to Antarctica a la "The Great Escape." Their secret agent antics and seemingly impossible mission prompt Alex to dub them the "psychotic penguins." The persevering penguins steal the movie, and their eventual arrival in their bleak, frozen homeland is one of those comic moments you expect, but is all the funnier when it happens.

Joining the escape very reluctantly is angst-ridden Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer), a native New Yorker who would be at home in a Woody Allen movie. With his incessant health anxieties, whether worrying that he has found another strange brown spot on his shoulder, or whining that if he leaves the zoo he will "have to go HMO," Schwimmer makes Melman the perfect nebbish.

Through a series of unfortunate events, Marty, Alex, Melman and Gloria the Hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) end up on a steamship with the penguins and are eventually shipwrecked. The lush, natural setting makes them think at first that they have arrived at the San Diego Zoo. The emergence of Alex on the shore, with his magnificent mane shimmering against a neon magenta sky and dark jungle provides another homage — to the painter Rousseau.

But when no humans can be found, they realize they have truly gone wild. They are introduced to exotic Madagascar by the native lemurs, whose King Julien XIII (Sacha Baron Cohen, aka Ali G.) presides over a techno-pop party of his subjects. The zoo crews' species are unknown to the natives, who welcome the carnivorously natured Alex along with the rest. But Maurice (Cedric the Entertainer), second-lemur-in-command, is suspicious about the looks of Alex's teeth.

Indeed, the lack of T-bones provided in abundance by the zookeepers soon has Alex seeing red — meat that is, in the form of his best friend. And this part of the film, while funny, could be a bit frightening to younger kids as we see the true circle of life, via the food chain. Especially disturbing is a cute baby duck that ends up as an appetizer for a ferocious crocodile.

For all its wit and animated radiance, "Madagascar" lacks the innovation of another DreamWorks product, "Shrek." The plot's a bit thin, and like a Chinese dinner, the movie doesn't stay with you after a couple of hours. But you will savor every bite while you're there.