All Hail the New York Giants!

Rating: 7/10 (12 June 2005)

Take four pampered, zoo born-and-bred animals, drop them into the deepest, darkest jungles of Madagascar, and hilarity ensues. That at least is the theory in Dreamworks' latest computer generated animation. Though it would be more accurate to call Madagascar a cartoon in the old sense of the word since, technical methodology aside, the style of this movie is, in part, heavily influenced by the likes of Bugs and Daffy.
Dreamworks of course have inflicted upon us the good (the first Shrek), the bad (the second Shrek), and the downright ugly (Shark Tale). Madagascar is largely the work of the key people involved in making the better than average Ice Age. Whilst that flick may have had its flaws, it ranks among the better Dreamworks titles and thankfully Madagascar largely improves upon it to give a genuinely entertaining, funny, and referential hour and a half.
The movie starts with Alex the egotistical lion (Stiller), Marty the wistful, daydreaming zebra (Rock), Melman the hypochondriac giraffe (Schwimmer), and Gloria the, frankly, bland hippopotamus (Pinkett-Smith) happily living their lives in the New York Zoo. Alex is treated like royalty, and is the star of the zoo - drawing crowds of children and pensioners alike. Marty dreams of "the wild", a seemingly magical mystical place, complete with flying penguins, where an animal is free and happy. Inspired by some penguins bent on escape to Antarctica Marty seizes an opportunity to escape the zoo, heading for "the wilds" - of Connecticut. Seeking to save their friend from what they see as madness, the others leave the zoo to perform an intervention.
Soon enough, Marty and his friends are captured, crated, and on their way to a wildlife park in Africa. The penguins, discovering they are headed for the jungles rather than the ice floes, seize control of the ship and head south. In the confusion our four heroes are thrown overboard and wash ashore on the island of Madagascar.
Animated movies, of late, have tended to fall into one of two camps. There are the intelligent, endearing movies made by Pixar. There are the pop-reference-heavy, visual overloads made by Dreamworks. And nothing much in the middle ground. Madagascar, at last, fills that middle ground with some flair, and a modicum of imagination. It's not going to set the world on fire, but it is far superior to Shark Tale, and Robots. Why? Because it knows it's a cartoon.
Yes, there are references throughout Madagascar. Blink and you'll miss one, certainly. My personal favourite is the Planet of the Apes one in all it's Heston-esquire glory, but there are many others for the adults to spot and giggle at.
But above all, Madagascar realises just how silly it should be, without resorting to puerile toilet humour (well, mostly...) and retaining a sense of fun. Marooned on the beach, Marty soon builds a bar, complete with mood lighting, drinks that you're not supposed to, well, drink, and a door without any walls. I've seen reviewers decry this, but they entirely miss the point. This is Bugs Bunny style of cartoonery. It's Looney Tunes territory, complete with dancing, singing lemurs, an old lady that looks eerily like Tweety's Granny, dream sequences where everybody looks like steak, and a lion that builds an impressive Statue of Liberty out of reeds and logs.
It's ridiculous, it's border-line self-parody, but above all, it's actually funny. Where Robots tried so hard to be funny, and largely failed, Madagascar falls back on the basics of kid's cartoons from the ages and largely succeeds. There's slapstick, there are moments of foolishness, and there are sight gags. The penguins, and King Julian, steal the show, overshadowing the main characters. Nevertheless, the two leads - Marty and Alex - give a strong showing.
The voice work is acceptable, without generally being brilliant - Sacha Baron Cohen being the rather exceptional exception to that. Stiller does well as Alex, and is remarkably un-Stiller in many instances, but Schwimmer, and more so Pinkett-Smith, are hardly used and largely forgettable. Rock, as Marty, suits the character well enough and invests the zebra with remarkable enthusiasm, naivete, and warmth. Unlike Robin Williams' sleepwalking, er, talking, in Robots everybody here feels invested in their characters.
The artistic sense of the film is remarkable for ignoring the rather appalling precedent set by Shark Tale - none of the animals look remotely like their voice-actors, and are stylistically exaggerated to the point of genuine cartoon. Madagascar eschews the faux realism of previous Dreamworks movies and revels in it's flexible, and occasionally over-the-top, lack of grounding in any world we could conceivably inhabit. Penguins deliver karate chops to sailors, an old granny pounds Alex into submission, and Marty is remarkably dextrous given he has no opposable thumbs.
As noted, there are a plethora of in-jokes and references for the movie buff, and the adult crowd. But mainly Madagascar is aimed at the kids, and as such it scores well. Kids will love the colour, the insufferable cuteness of the lemurs, and the inevitable dance song. Adults will find enough to keep them entertained without their eyes glazing over.
Whilst not as clever as Pixar's movies, Madagascar is a step above Shark Tale, a bound over Robots, and an highly entertaining experience.
7.5/10.