Don't give me the stars - give me the penguins!

Rating: 5/10 (31 July 2005)

While I didn't get much of a kick out of "Madagascar," the star rating is taking into account
a) the fact that this was aimed more at younger viewers,
and b) the fact that this is less painful to watch than "Shark Tale." (Granted, this is like saying that "Highway To Heaven" is less anodyne than "Little House on the Prairie," but still.)
Short and colourful, but with a pretty thin storyline, our main characters of Alex the urban one, Gloria the practical one, Melman the nervous one and Marty the wild one (believe me, they don't get developed much more than that) aren't all that amusing or appealing, and the movie gets much better whenever the spotlight falls on the escaping penguins or the lemur king and his second-in-command. More of them would have made a lot of difference (and with the movie's box office returns, the possibility of DreamWorks spinning them off into a TV series shouldn't be ruled out).
"Madagascar" also trots out some very weak cultural gags, some of which really stick out in what's supposed to be a movie for kids (Alex's "American Beauty" dream with roses replaced by steaks, complete with Thomas Newman's original music? A "Cast Away" gag with a ball called Spalding? And can someone point out that it might not be a good idea to remind older viewers of better movies from the same company?), and the heavy doses of non-original music just make the new stuff by Hans Zimmer and Co. seem weaker than ever. Add to this animation that's on the same level as "Father of the Pride" and a very annoying dosage of "I Like To Move It," and you have one very mediocre animated feature. (How mediocre? I've seen Don Bluth movies that come over stronger. Don Bluth movies from the 1990s.)
Oh, for the days when animated movies didn't feel compelled to rely on name voices. But again, thank goodness for the penguins. Smile and wave indeed...