A fun, adventurous film for children and adults alike

Rating: 8/10 (7 July 2013)

I first saw this film when I was 18 and I enjoyed it back then. When watching it with my mother recently (she owns all three films in a box set) we both had a laugh and there were a few parts of it I didn't notice first time around, such as the 'Planet of the Apes' reference and recognisable pieces of music (most notably 'Chariots of Fire' that was used in London 2012 Olympics coverage and the 'Hawaii Five-0' theme that plays when Marty surfs towards the beach).
This film has witty characters, delightful sight gags (especially when Marty spots a woman wearing a black and white striped top) and luscious backgrounds, particularly the island of Madagascar itself. I also liked the scene where the four main animals were shown inside their boxes whilst being shipped to Madagascar - it was cleverly executed and had a similar style to split screen mode. The "Who's the cat?" Chase scene between Alex and Marty is hilarious and uses the principle of follow through and overlapping action perfectly. The voice cast is well known as well. While this film is mostly aimed at children, there are parts of it that may go over their heads such as the psychedelic hallucination sequence when Alex is tranquillised and the 'American Beauty' reference. Mort, the baby lemur, is very cute too.
Overall, this was a highly enjoyable film. It was no 'Shrek,' but it still had its funny moments. 8/10.