It went right over my head

Rating: 5/10 (17 April 2009)

Now that the sequel has been out for quite some time, I thought I should see this one just to compare. When this was first released I couldn't have cared less. Talking animals - done a million times, right? Yes, but it is done with smart voice-over work from all involved and great animation that has come a long way from the first PDI/Dreamworks collaboration, Antz.
Ben Stiller scores with a perfect character in line with most of his other screen performances. Alex, the urbanised lion who is comfortable in his sheltered life and think he is pretty hot stuff. He gets a serious wake up call, though when the plot kicks in and he discovers that the world doesn't necessarily revolve around his needs.
Chris Rock is the real revelation, though. His voice works beautifully with the zebra with a yearning for adventure and he proves that he doesn't have to resort to four-letter words to be funny. Big improvement from basically the same restriction he had when hosting the Oscars.
Jada Pinkett Smith is lost in basically doing schtick that wasn't really funny 20 years ago but she is also not served that well of not having a story of her own, as she did in the sequel. And as for David Schwimmer, dead on casting of a neurotic, kind of dopey hypochondriac. He almost out-Woodies, Woody Allen. Not that I am much of a fan of both of them.
Other than the voice talent, the basic premise of tamed animals released in the wild is pretty neat, although once they are there, the movie runs out of steam. The jungle creatures voiced by Sacha Baron Cohen and Cedric the Entertainer are good for a few chuckles but you wish that the filmmakers had done more than having them be cowardly and manipulative. As for the penguins, they are there merely there to look cute and quote not too clever pop references.
Alex almost giving in to his primal instincts is a pretty clever. If you don't know, lions do eat zebras. Moral dilemma at its most ironic. But you somehow know that it can't lead to anything. After all, this is a PG-rated movie.
There is no doubt that Dreamworks/PDI is one of the best in bringing these stories to life but what you are basically left with is an animated movie that doesn't really impress other than die hard movie buffs who think all animation is great.