Brilliantly scripted, more for adults....

Rating: 7/10 (12 May 2012)

The animated animals here in Madagascar may be rather angular and gawky and their actions a little exaggerated but the script and vocal talents can keep any adult as interested and entertained as any child.
Chris Rock, being black, as Zebra, who isn't sure if he's black with white stripes, or white with black ones (superb!) steals all the best lines and verbal exchanges, like he did in Shrek. Ably supported by Ben Stiller (Lion), David Schwimmer (Giraffe) and Jada Pinkett Smith (Hippo) along with Sacha Baron Cohen and Cedric the Entertainer, this disparate group of animals at New York Central zoo decide to escape, having no idea what being wild is like, having been cosseted and looked after all their lives.
Their escapade sees them encountering NY's Grand Central station and such and then they (magically) get a ship to Madagascar. Younger kids will love the dancing lemurs and will have them bopping to it enthusiastically. Once in the 'wild', they then only want to escape their 'desert' island and we see them making beacons and rafts, a good nod to many other films. There's also a sideline group of penguins that try to get to the Antarctica, but when they finally get there....For us Brits, rather like the two commentating old gents in the Muppet Show, we have a pair of posh, literary, tea-drinking British monkeys. Alex, the lion's almost permanent fixation with steaks that has him dreaming of, and seeing juicy T-bones in everything he sees, provides good mileage, too.
Sacha Baron Cohen as King of the Lemurs doesn't quite work as well, for me, being slightly too OTT.
You can watch Madagascar over and again, the sight gags and one-liners always surprising us. Though I don't have it on DVD, whenever it's on TV, I'll watch it and once seen, you can just dip into it at any point.
Though Madagascar isn't as visually rich and fluent as some other Dreamworks animations the script is a bristling gem, making this a film for all ages.