A one-step improvement over the original and as a fan, it surprised me

Rating: 8/10 (9 January 2013)

I loved the original film as much as anyone else. It had a flawed story, a shorter time length, and a script that contained some humorous parts, but only some parts that were too predictable; but I loved it for it's charming characters and it's beautiful animation. So, when I saw that Dreamworks made this sequel to that film, I was only expecting this to be as good as the first, but sadly, I missed my only chance to see it in theaters of that year.
Almost two years later, however, on my last birthday, I had the chance to get this on a DVD copy, feeling very desperate to watch it to see if it would whether or not be surprise me as much as the original even though that film had it's problems. Later, I became a bit surprised. OK, it's not as excellent as the previous film that came out the same year "Kung Fu Panda", but it's not one of Dreamworks' weakest (that goes to Shark Tale, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, and Bee Movie). The same characters are as charming as ever, but this time, they're much fleshed out especially King Julian and Maurice.
Some of the new characters are great and I think the villain named Makunga voiced by Alec Baldwin isn't that bad of a villain, though he was underused and I liked Alex's parents as well. It's sad to see that Bernie Mac died just before this film was released (may his soul rest in peace), but I'm getting ahead of myself. The soundtrack from Hans Zimmer has improved a little in this film although it does have some generic bits. It does have some clever references which works for the comedy that got a chuckle/laugh out of me as well as it's witty and sharp dialog. There was also a scene that involved a relationship between Gloria and Melman which was so romantic and sweet to watch.
The only two problems that I do have with this film is that while the story does have more heart than the original film, it's still predictable and does have it's similarities to the Lion King and Happy Feet and several scenes were dragged a lot throughout the movie. Aside from that, I said to myself, "This is a great sequel." I loved the original, but as a fan, this completely surprised and surpasses it as a much better entry of the franchise. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa isn't an excellent film, but I totally recommend this to those who haven't seen it or the original film yet. It is that good!