Disappointing, predictable and unnecessarily violent

Rating: 5/10 (27 December 2008)

If you expect Madagascar 2 to be as mild mannered as the prequel then you will be very disappointed. If you think that you wouldn't mind jokes about an old granny being beat up in front of your kids, and you liked the first Madagascar, then you will probably like the sequel. The PG rating is 100% required as on the way home we had to explain to our 7-year-old son, it is never acceptable to beat up an old lady no matter how annoying they are (warning: some scenes were shocking and violently graphic for impressionable or young kids!) The first Madagascar is much more appropriate for children, hence its U rating. To make matters worse, the irritating King Julian is, unfortunately, back in abundance. There were some mildly amusing moments - for example the reference to The Twilight Zone when Mort was on the wing - and some of the slap-stick wasn't too bad. Unfortunately, many of the gags were quite predictable e.g. the one involving Marti, zebras and spit! Comments were quite negative as we walked out of the cinema with one guy saying that he fell asleep part of the way through! At one point my wife was so despondent she wanted to walk out of the cinema, however having paid the money we felt obliged to sit through it. The plot was a bit like 'Lion King' on drugs and didn't seem to flow that well! It's certainly not a wow factor film, most intelligent adults and kids would find better entertainment watching a fish tank! You might just about manage to keep the kids in their seats with this film but don't listen to the advertising hype because it's nothing to write home about!