An above average animated film with solid entertainment, but also pretty flawed in it's story

Rating: 8/10 (5 January 2013)

The first time I saw this in theaters was in the late summer of that year almost 8 years ago, hoping that it would've disappoint me the same way Dreamworks Animation's Shark Tale did (it was far from being the worst, but it was pretty disappointing). Later, I think that it got me a smile on my face and I liked it as a kid, but as a young adult, I think this is a decent film with solid entertainment, but also pretty flawed. It isn't as strong as the later films like "Kung Fu Panda" and "How To Train Your Dragon", but trust me, I've seen much worse animated films (The Magic Voyage & Secret of NIMH 2).
I liked the idea of the four zoo animals getting stranded in Madagascar and the first 30 minutes was very promising, but the middle & third acts were a huge disappointment with a Foosa subplot. It was also short; could've been a little bit longer and the script is completely weak at times.
Flaws aside, everything still holds up. The animation is bright and colorful with excellent detail on New York and Madagascar (my favorite part of the animation in the movie being the jungle) and the character animation is pretty decent. The characters, on the whole, are likable especially Alex, Marty, Gloria, & Melman, but the best characters goes to the penguins (Skipper, Private, Kowalski, and Rico) King Julian who makes me laugh every time he's on screen while the other lemurs are kind of cute (especially Mort). The voice acting is excellent and it was surprisingly to see Ben Stiller (Night at the Museum), Chris Rock (Osmosis Jones) , Jada Pinkett-Smith, and David Schwimmer (Friends) in it. Sacha Baron Cohen & Cedric The Entertainer also did a great job as the lemurs King Julian and Maurice as did Andy Richter as Mort. The music from Hans Zimmer may be generic, but it does have a nice track (Born Free).
Overall, Madagascar may not match up to some of Dreamworks Animation's strongest works, but it's a lot better than their weakest films (Shark Tale, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas and Bee Movie). It might be worth-watching for kids, but for the adults, it would've been a little bit better.