Better than the other first two movies

Rating: 7/10 (11 January 2013)

Madagascar 3 surprised me in the fact that it was able to finally do something the other movies couldn't: have a structured plot. If there is one problem the first two movies had is that the plot was rather tacked on but the main focus of the movies was character interaction. The characters were the reason why we liked the Madagascar 3. This movie is able to accomplish both great character interaction and still maintain a fairly good plot.
Now the interesting thing about this movie is that the beginning of the movie (first couple minutes) is entirely rushed and for good reason. The plot wastes no time in Africa (no goodbyes even) so the beginning of the movie is non-stop crazy action and has very little explanation for why everything is happening. The movie does recognize some of the scenes are borrowed from the first two movies and that not everything makes sense logically. However the movie really picks up its pace when it reaches the circus.
The circus group is very entertaining and interesting. It adds a new cast of characters which was really needed. Since we have already established and gone through every issue between the main characters in the last movies this allows the movie to focus on issues of new characters. Alex, Marty, Gloria, and Melman get along fine and don't have any issues with each other. This is a good thing. The jokes in this movie work fairly well and the nice thing about this movie is that it shows stereotypes on all sides. It isn't just the French, Russian, Canadian, or Italian people who have stereotypes but the Americans as well (A man in a western outfit, wearing a wide brim hat with a bald eagle as a pet).
The overall plot is that the old gang is trying to find the penguins who are in Monte Carlo. However when trying to get them back they are chased down by a creepy animal catcher/hunter. She follows them constantly in their tracks. The animals manage to escape by boarding a circus train and this is where the plot really kicks off.
If there is one thing this movie has a lot of it's music. The movie uses a lot of licensed music and it actually works well. I was surprised that a certain well known song that is entirely overused in every movie and generally annoys me was actually used effectively and was appropriate for this movie. The animation also stands out as very remarkable. I have to say that I haven't seen a single Dreamworks movie that hasn't impressed me with its animation. Honestly, this movie looks really good.
So overall I have to say that Madagascar 3 does a lot of things better than the previous movies. It is faster, has better plot, has more characters, good humor, good soundtrack, and is never boring. It is always entertaining and something is always going on. Good movie!