Secondary Characters carry this

Rating: 7/10 (27 June 2008)

This has a lot to offer for "children of all ages". Small children will appreciate the animation, visual humour, and the basic story. Those a little older will note the many references to popular culture, art, film and literature which provide more subtle humour. That said, the main story itself is good, but not compelling (animals leave zoo and find it's harder to live in the wild than they thought). In many ways, the story is really about getting the four main characters (who are straight-"men" for the most part) to points where they meet the really funny background characters. This movie would not have been anything much without the penguins and Julian the Lemur King. (Face it - David Schwimmer is not that funny.) That's what sells the DVD. I expect it will be the same for Madagascar 2. The four main characters are necessary for the story, but you watch it for the penguins, because they are worth the price of admission.