Is It a Zoo or a Jungle Out There?

Movie Review: “Madagascar”

DreamWorks Animation

Animated, Rated PG for very mild violence, crude humor and some adult-oriented themes

Well, I was hoping this season’s Shrek would arrive on the heat waves of summer, but alas, that is not the case. Though I’d heard from more than one person that it was incredible, the animated feature Madagascar was ultimately not as funny as I’d anticipated. I guess I was blinded by the fact that the creators of Shark Tale and Shrek had a hand in this romp, but it falls a bit flat compared to the former and isn’t even in the same league with the latter.

It opens with Marty (Chris Rock), a zebra, lamenting the arrival of the big 1 – 0, a midlife crisis of sorts for him. He wants more, but he doesn’t know what; he is unhappy, but he doesn’t know why. Yeah, that sounds like most midlife crises I’ve witnessed.

His trusty friends Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith), the neurotic giraffe Melman (David Schwimmer) and Alex the lion (Ben Stiller) try to cheer Marty up, hoping he will realize how good they all have it at the zoo. Alex in particular is living high on the t-bone, warming up for his daily performances like a fuzzier version of Robin Williams.

About the only animals that seem to share Marty’s dim view of captivity is a group of conniving penguins who want to trade in their frozen digs for the real thing via Antarctica. Marty too wants to trade in the only home he’s ever known for his own patch of green in the wild. When he makes the leap, his hapless trio of friends follows closely behind him, but they all get caught, crated up and are on their way to Africa.

On the way, something happens and the crates end up stranded on an island. Marty is in heaven; the island has lots of sand, greenery, open space and scenery. The others, especially the annoying hypochondriac Melman, want to go home and RIGHT NOW, thank you.

Unbeknownst to the castaways, the island is already inhabited with its own little ‘tribe,’ a party-loving bunch of lemurs headed up by a feisty king. Our quartet of zoo critters is introduced to the natives when they inadvertently save one of them from becoming dinner for a group of carnivorous foosa. Are they heroic leaders sent to save the lemur community or just a bunch of pansies who don’t know their heads from their tales?

That’s secondary to the main theme of the last third or so of the flick – the classic ‘nature vs. nurture’ argument. The zoo had an endless supply of meat for Alex, so it was easy for him to be best buds with animals his ancestors would call lunch. Starving in the wild, however, the former softie becomes a predator, fantasizing about steak in a hilarious take-off on a scene from “American Beauty.” Can he quash his animalistic urges in order to keep his teeth off his friends? They need the typically kind-hearted Alex to act as protector from the foosa clan, but can they trust him?

Final Analysis: It all climaxes in an ending that seems very contrived and unlikely, but is still entertaining. The penguins are hilarious, albeit a bit too much “Animal Farm”-ish. Rock does a pretty darn good job of bringing Marty to life and making him a sympathetic character and his fellow voice actors succeed as well, at least for the most part.

Kids under the age of 8 or 9 may be a bit disturbed by the mild violence and parents may bawk at the potty language, but neither is all that bad really.

Madagascar” isn’t perfect, but it’s much better than many other recent entries into the animated world. After all, just how realistic and sensible can a movie about a bunch of talking animals be?