Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted

Rating: 4/10 (10 June 2018)

The Madagascar franchise has been a pretty mixed bag for me, the first film was fun, but the first sequel Escape 2 Africa was terrible, I didn't have my hopes for this third movie, but I went with it anyway. Basically it picks up where it left off, Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer) and Gloria the Hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) are still stuck in Madagascar, Africa, and wish to return to the Big Apple, and their beloved Central Park Zoo. The four friends manage to work their way to Monte Carlo and catch up to the penguins and the chimpanzees gambling in the casino. But their antics draw the attention of the animal control, led by highly skilled and scary hunter Captain Chantal Dubois (Frances McDormand), who pursues them, determined to catch and kill them, and add them to her animal heads collection. The animals next wind up in the skies of France, crash land, and come across a circus train, containing Stefano the sea lion (Martin Short), Gia the jaguar (Jessica Chastain), and Vitaly the tiger (Bryan Cranston). After convincing the circus animals they are also part of the show, the four friends learn that the circus is on a European tour, going from Paris, then to Rome, and to London, before travelling to America. The four friends slowly find themselves blending into circus life for real, Alex convinces the glum animals to keep pursuing, Marty enjoys being fired out of a cannon, and Melman and Gloria walk the tightrope. Alex becomes part of a perfectly executed spectacular performance, the promoter is impressed and arranges the American tour, Dubois catches up to them, but the penguins foil her plan to capture them. There is a point when Alex is forced to confess to the circus animals that they are just trying to get home, they go their separate ways, but the zoo animals realise that their true home is now with their new friends. Before they can go back, Dubois tranquilizes and captures them, the zoo staff assume she has returned the animals to the zoo. King Julien XIII the ring-tailed lemur (Sacha Baron Cohen) and Skipper (Tom McGrath) and the penguins manage to convince the circus animals to help them save the zoo animals. In the end, Dubois and her henchmen are defeated, Alex and the others decide to permanently join the circus and pursue more adventures, and thanks to the penguins, Dubois and her henchmen are shipped in crates bound for Madagascar. Also starring Cedric the Entertainer as Maurice the aye-aye, Andy Richter as Mort the mouse lemur, Chris Miller as Kowalski, Christopher Knights as Private, Vinnie Jones as Freddie the Dog, Frank Welker as Sonya and Futurama's John DiMaggio as Rico. The recognisable voice cast are all fine, and the animation is fantastic, the most memorable sequence is the performance with "Firework" by Katy Perry playing, but even with some fast-paced chase sequences, and fairly amusing jokes, it is still lacking some charm, an alright animated family comedy adventure. Okay!