A Surprisingly Good Sequel

Rating: Null/10 (22 April 2010)

"Madagascar" was sort of a take it or leave it film. It was a box office hit in 2005, of course, and it received mixed reviews. DreamWorks gave it a sequel because it made money, which is why we have the "Shrek" sequels and the upcoming "Kung Fu Panda" sequel. I remember when DreamWorks actually had a "Shark Tale 2" planned and a possible "Over the Hedge 2". A sequel to every movie they made would be a bit of a nightmare.
Like "Shrek The Third", a sequel to "Madagascar" might've been seen as unnecessary. Before I see a sequel, I go in with reasonable expectations: "It better be good, that's all." I was pleasantly surprised. "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" is a sequel that's actually better than its predecessor. "Shrek 2" and "Shrek The Third" couldn't come close to "Shrek", so I had some doubts before seeing it.
"Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" shows us Alex the Lion's childhood and where he came from. We are then shown how he got to New York City and then it showed the events of the first "Madagascar", and then onto the present. The gang is ready to leave Madagascar on a plane they constructed out of the crashed plane in the first film and all different things, along with King Julien, Maurice, the chimps (who were pretty funny in the first film) and the penguins. The plane crashes in Africa's savannas.
There, Alex reunites himself with his family, but he is not liked by Makunga. Makunga is basically a Scar-type character who wants to be the king lion and replace Alex's father, Zuba. Meanwhile, Marty becomes friends with a herd of zebras. Gloria falls in love with a hippo named Moto Moto. Melman becomes a witchdoctor. Everyone else works on fixing the plane.
Despite some "Lion King" similarities in Alex's scenes, the story worked well and there was more character development than the original. Also, the humor was funnier and it was almost devoid of the pop culture jokes that plagued DreamWorks' 2004-2005 films. There were some surprises along the way, like scenes with Mort being chased by a shark. The film's climax actually delivered and it was more exciting than the first film's climax.
Overall, an 8.9 out of 10. A good sequel that's actually an improvement over the original. It still has some flaws, but it didn't have some the bigger flaws that the original had. Good sequel, great fun.
One more thing: The title! "Escape 2 Africa" is definitely not a great title. "The Crate Escape" was no spectacular title either. They didn't want it to simply be "Madagascar 2", as they thought they were being unique with "Shrek The Third". They should've just kept it as "Madagascar 2", or come up with a much better sequel title.