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The animals at the Central Park Zoo have it all; living in the life of luxury where their every whim is catered for. But zebra Marty feels restless, longing for life in the wild. So on his birthday he heads off for a night on the town. Worried about him, his friends go after him, only to be caught by the police, crated up and shipped off to a Kenyan wildlife reserve. But thanks to a bunch of Machiavellian penguins, they end up off course and washed up on the beach of Madagascar, an island without hot and cold running water and crawling with bizarre animals our heroes have never seen the like of before. Can the stars of the urban jungle survive in the real jungle?
Great things have been expected of Dreamworks' animation studio ever since "Shrek". Sadly they have been unable to live up to their debut and have disappointed with "Spirit; Stallion of the Cimmaron" and "A Shark's Tale". They almost did it with "Shrek 2" but lost marks for being drunk on their own popularity and letting the writing slip. "Madagascar" directors Eric Darnell and Tim McGrath haven't done a bad job. The animation is crisp and fluid, they have created a style all their own and have a half decent script. But as is often the case with animation, the devil is in the detail. Though a superficially good-looking movie, aspects like skin and fur texture in the main protagonists have been overlooked, leaving them without a sense of depth and the backgrounds often appear out of focus. As a result some sequences feel like they've been rushed through production unfinished. That being said, the water, grass and foliage textures are all beautifully realised, showing myriad colours and great attention to light and shade. The animals themselves are stylised
but easily recognisable versions of creatures; they tend towards the top heavy with oversized heads that allow a greater range of humanised expressions. Thankfully they haven't gone over the top as they did in "A Shark's Tale" and tried to make the beasts look too much like their human counterparts (though zebra Chris Rock has a hint of a goatee). For comparison's sake they are probably closest to the animals in Disney's "Fantasia", but computer generated. The film is brimming with ideas that are sometimes let down by the execution, but when they work, they really work. Just look at the opening sequence that has a dreamy zebra trotting through the wilderness while synchronised penguins take flight to the tune of "Born Free", Busby Berkley style. Or the kaleidoscopic hallucinations prompted by being shot with a tranquiliser dart or the sight of a giraffe on polished floor. There are plenty of throwaway sight gags and these are delivered with aplomb, like the erudite chimp who starts his day with a scavenged coffee and bagel to go with his copy of The Times. Then there are the popular culture references that will keep adult film buff happy, including "10", "Chariots of Fire", "Castaway", "Planet of the Apes", "American Beauty", "Tarzan", "The Great Escape" and the seemingly omnipresent "Lord of the Dance". But though amusing in parts, it's not enough to keep the film ticking over.
Part of the problem is the writing. The genius of "Shrek" was that it made you root for an unlikely hero through judicious use of character development. Here there is no room for it amongst the gags. Sure the film has plenty of funny moments, but it plays more like a series of sketches than a cohesive story. As a result it's difficult to care about the characters and the socially responsible lesson about the importance of friendship and loyalty feels tacked-on. There are too many main characters, which means that Melman the giraffe and Gloria the hippo are sidelined early on and aren't given enough comic moments to be memorable. The relationship between Marty the zebra and Alex the lion is too earnest to allow for comedy. In fact all they seem to do is moan and complain while they wait to be rescued. The laughs are left to the incidental characters; the psychotic yet clueless penguins are consistently hilarious and the posh primates are good for a few laughs; "Tom Wolfe is giving a reading at the Lincoln Centre" [His mute cage-mate signs frantically at him] "Well of course we're going to throw pooh at him!". Then there's the high-energy lunacy of Julian, king of the lemurs that riffs on his ridiculous megalomania. So though mildly amusing throughout, there are relatively few belly laughs to be had.
Overall the voice cast is competent though hardly deserving of its presumably enormous pay packet. Much of this is due to the fact they aren't given anything interesting to say and everyone has to stick rigidly to the kid-friendly script. God forbid the normally foul-mouthed Chris Rock should be let off the leash and allowed to improvise. Instead they hope his naturally energetic delivery will be enough to endear the character of Marty to the audience. Sadly it isn't and tends towards the annoying. Ben Stiller is one of the funniest guys on the big screen; his reactions are perfectly timed. But it doesn't really work when you can't see him, so his performance as Alex feels somewhat bland. Though at least you remember the character, which is more than can be said for David Schwimmer as the voice of Melman the giraffe. The actor is always going to be remembered as Ross from "Friends" and that's because he can only play one character, which suits the nebbish hypochondriac giraffe down to the ground. But he isn't given enough to do to stand out. The same can be said for Jada Pinkett-Smith as Gloria the hippo. There's nothing to differentiate her vocal performance from that of dozens of other female voice-over artists and there's nothing about it that would mark it out as a Pinkett-Smith turn. Our own Sacha Baron-Cohen is the only actor to give his character real energy. He hams it up for all he's worth as Julian the self-appointed lemur king, clearly revelling in the opportunity to refer to some really big Hollywood names as "freaks" and "a bunch of pansies". He's great at the self-important ramblings of an insane mammal, all delivered in a rat-a-tat sub-continental accent. Similarly, Cedric the Entertainer brings some much needed laid-back warmth and charm to his sidekick Maurice. It's a shame we don't see more of him.
Hans Zimmer must be a busy chap, as he dashes off yet another film score. It's fairly restrained stuff for a change, staying away from his big choral numbers and haunting pipes. In fact it's so restrained you barely notice its presence. That being said there are a nice couple of flourishes including a nod to Lalo Schiffrin's 1960s' incidental music for "Mission: Impossible" when the penguins are on a mission. Otherwise, it's fairly predictable and pedestrian material. But that could just be because it's sandwiched between 90s' rump-shakers like "I Like to Move It" (that will have many twenty-somethings tapping their feet involuntarily) and classics like Louis Armstrong's "Wonderful World" and John Barry's much imitated "Born Free". The soundtrack is eclectic and fits the context of the scene, but much like the narrative, feels like a collection of greatest hits.
To put the film in perspective, it isn't as good as "Shrek" but is nowhere near as bad as "A Shark's Tale". It will be a big hit with kids because there are plenty of sight gags and pooh jokes and even a "friends are important message". Adults may find it superficially satisfying and have a few guffaws at the many in-jokes, but could find the lack of tangible plot frustrating. The film also lacks the highest production values associated with the studio's earliest output. But if you're looking for a film that won't tax your brain and may give your smile muscles a bit of a workout, you could do much worse. And if anyone can explain to me why cartoon animals with no visible genitals collapse in pain when booted between the legs, I'd greatly appreciate it.
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Anything with Ben Stillers voice in must be hilarious, fab review from start to finish with some hilarious descriptions, a very well done on yet another superb review(-:
krissiebea 09.09.2005 22:01
Fab review. Krissie xx
bingbong 09.09.2005 21:10
I was interested in this film enough to go and see it as the cinema but might rent it out. anna x
The penguins steal the show. In the sprightlyMadagascar, a mid-life crisis inspires Marty ... more
the Zebra (voiced by Chris Rock) to escape from his lifelong home, a New York zoo. His equally pampered friends--Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller), Gloria the Hippo (Ja...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
The penguins steal the show. In the sprightlyMadagascar, a mid-life crisis inspires Marty ... more
the Zebra (voiced by Chris Rock) to escape from his lifelong home, a New York zoo. His equally pampered friends--Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller), Gloria the Hippo (Ja...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
At New York's Central Park Zoo a lion (Stiller) a zebra (Rock) a giraffe (Schwimmer) ... more
and a hippo (Pinkett Smith) are best friends and stars of the show. But when one of the animals goes missing from their cage the other three break free to look fo...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
The friendship between a New York City lion and zebra is tested when fate brings them out ... more
to the unforgiving wilderness in this computer-animated feature. Chris Rock does the voice of Marty the Zebra, whose longing to explore beyond his cushy Central P...
![Madagascar [DVD] [2005]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78493523.jpg "Madagascar [DVD] [2005]")
![Madagascar [2005]-DVD](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/106081111.jpg "Madagascar [2005]-DVD")
Sep 9th, 2005
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