"If you have any poop, fling it now."

Rating: 8/10 (1 January 2006)

Computer-mated films have become quite a medium in the entertainment business over the last decade. In fact, just over the last two years (not counting this New Year's Day), we have been offered at least five of these films, among them Shark Tale, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Chicken Little, and today's feature film: Madagascar.
Like Dreamworks' other computer-mated films, Madagascar inherits great character design, quirky pop culture references, Grade-A comedy, a list of vocally-gifted celebrities, an innovative storyline, and great multi-generational comedy. In short, if you've seen Shrek, you can gauge how much you'll like this movie.
This does not mean in any way that Madagascar is formulated, even though the characteristics they do share with Shrek and Shark Tale are lackluster in comparison. The main characters, for example, are not as well-developed, memorable, or hilarious as Puss in Boots or Donkey in the Shrek series of movies. The plot is also not as well-written as the one in Shark Tale. The movie's soundtrack isn't as great as the ones for either of the above-mentioned movies, and definitely doesn't use a song as powerfully as "Hallelujah" in Shrek. In all of these areas, Madagascer is simply mediocre.
However, this movie has a few major and minor distinctive characteristics which make Madagascer its own movie, and they are all help it immensely. Among the minor things are its few song triumphs. "I Like to Move It" was a great song, and the version featured in the movie is a LOT better than the karaoke ending numbers in both Shreks and Shark Tale. Plus, there is no ending number in Madagascar, which turns out to also be a good thing.
Among the major characteristics of the movie, the plot is a gold mine of opportunities: What would happen if four zoo animal pals were stranded on a deserted island? The script does this idea comedic justice, from the choice of animals, to the settings the animals interact in, etc., etc.
The other saving grace is the cast of excellent minor characters. They will make you howl in laughter, more than our main protagonists. Is there anything funnier than a group of penguins pulling an escape plan, military style? Or an English monkey that commands his silent buddy on the ordeal of flinging poop? And the lemurs. You gotta love the lemurs! Every time one of these characters appears signifies a stand-out part of the movie.
Overall, Madagascar does its job successfully: be a hilarious comedy everyone can enjoy. In a 1-10 scale, I give it an 8. Great movie, it is; but there have been a lot better in this genre.