OK but don't believe the hype

Rating: 5/10 (14 July 2005)

This movie was OK. It didn't live up to my expectations. I thought it would be considerably more funny.
It starts off well. Some nice wee gags, but it lacks plot. It seems to be very similar most of the time.
It is definitely not as funny as some of the other digitally animated movies. I know these types of movies are aimed at little kids, but normally they have some quite funny jokes in them. But this one didn't have many good jokes. They were all very childish. Most of the best jokes were on the trailer, but there were a few good ones. Really, my friends and I got more laughs out of mocking it than we did watching it.
Another poor thing is the animation. It is awful compared to Shrek, Finding Nemo, Shark Tale etc. That really surprised me. They didn't look very real. They looked more like cartoons. Although some lemurs were done well, I remember that Alex the lion didn't look very good.
One thing that is very good is the voice acting. Especially Ben Stiller. He always does well.
Overally I thought it was reasonably entertaining. Younger children will probably enjoy it but I wouldn't fork out large sums of money to see it.