Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted

Plot synopsis:
The story continues from the events of the second film. Alex (Ben Stiller) has a nightmare about himself and his friends still stranded in Africa and finding they have all gotten old. He then wakes from his dream on his birthday, and the animals present him with a miniature model of New York City. Alex suggests to Marty (Chris Rock), Melman (David Schwimmer), and Gloria (Jada Pinkett Smith) that they should go to Monte Carlo to get the penguins to fly them back to New York City, which they agree to.In Monte Carlo, the penguins and the two chimpanzees, Mason and Phil, disguised as the King of Versailles, keep winning in gambling until Alex's gang's attempt to reach them blunders and sparks chaos in the Hotel De Paris. The hotel security calls Monaco Animal Control officer Captain Chantel DuBois (Frances McDormand) to deal with the animals. But rather than capture them alive, DuBois desires their heads, mainly Alex's, as trophies. A high-speed chase ensues between the relentless DuBois and the animals in a truck driven by the penguins to reach their aircraft that was from the second film. The group departs on the plane, just barely escaping DuBois.In the skies of France, the plane's engines fail and the plane crashes into a suburban rail yard as the authorities close in. They come across a circus train and bang on it, desperately trying to get in. Gia, a jaguar (Jessica Chastain), sees the four zoo animals and Alex is smitten with her upon first sight of her. Seeing their only chance of escape is on the circus train, the four larger animals desperately claim that they are circus animals themselves, which convinces Stefano the sea lion (Martin Short) and Gia to let them in despite the protests of Vitaly the tiger (Bryan Cranston). The animals soon learn from Stefano that they are performing in Rome and London, where they plan to impress a promoter to get them on their first American tour. Before the zoo animals' claim is discredited, the penguins suddenly appear with a deal to purchase the circus themselves, resulting in the pleased departure of all the humans. Meanwhile, King Julien (Sacha Baron Cohen) falls in love with Sonya the bear (Frank Welker) and goes on a city tour across Rome. He accidentally breaks her tricycle, and buys her a motorcycle with the stolen coronation ring of the Pope. Meanwhile the others prepare for the performance at the Colosseum. Unfortunately, to the zoo animals' horror, the circus proves to be so terrible, the angered audience demands refunds, right to going to the point of chasing the circus to the departing train to London.En route to London, the zoo gang is in despair of having wasted their money on the failing circus and not any closer to getting home. Stefano soon reveals to Alex that Vitaly was once their inspiration. Once a professional ring jumper who used to leap through incrementally smaller hoops to excite crowds and was always pushing himself to the limit, his attempt at an impossible jump through a flaming pinkie ring ended in disaster when he burned his fur, which he had coated in extra virgin olive oil in order to slip through the narrow opening, destroying his confidence in his talent and the whole circus suffered by his example. An inspired Alex then has the train make a stop in the Alps and convinces the performers to rework their act to become the opposite of the world-famous human-only Cirque du Soleil as an animal-only lights and acrobatic show.He encourages the animals to try pursuing their ambitions and advises others to change acts they are unsuited for. Similarly the zoo animals are trying out new things too. Heartened by Alex's vision, the zoo animals and the circus animals develop sophisticated acts together and become closer friends in the process, especially Alex and Gia who find themselves falling in love.Meanwhile, DuBois is arrested & detained in Rome after causing problems with the local police officers while chasing the animals out of her jurisdiction, but escapes and researches Alex on the Internet, learning he was the missing lion from the zoo in New York. Once free, DuBois recruits her injured men, inspiring them with the French classic Non, je ne regrette rien, made famous by Édith Piaf, and heads toward the Alps, forcing the animals to proceed to London despite incomplete rehearsals. In London, the troupe prepares for the promoter in the audience, but Vitaly is discovered packing to leave. Despite the tiger's hostility to him, Alex convinces Vitaly to stay by reminding him of how he enjoys performing the impossible and suggests that he uses hair conditioner as a safer lubricant to perform his flaming ring jump. As a result, Vitaly's stunt is performed perfectly, which proves to be the opening of a spectacularly successful show. After the impressed promoter arranges for an American tour, DuBois shows up with a paper showing that Alex was missing. Though the penguins are able to foil DuBois's plan to capture Alex, the lion is forced to confess that the four of them are just zoo animals trying to get home, disappointing the others who feel used by these lying amateurs who could have gotten them killed developing and performing their new acts.Finally, both the ashamed zoo animals and the circus arrive in New York City. However, Gia, Vitaly and Stefano find that even after learning the truth about Alex's gang, they are ready to forgive their new friends without whom their lives and performances feel woefully incomplete. Likewise, the zoo group and Julien finally arrive at the gates of the closed Central Park Zoo, only to realize that their adventure has changed them too much to return to captivity and that they were "home" when they joined the circus. The zoo animals resolve to return to the circus and reconcile with their new friends, but they are then tranquilized and captured by DuBois. The zoo staff, delighted by Alex's reappearance, thank DuBois, incorrectly believing that she was trying to return the missing animals. Unnoticed, Julien manages to reach the circus (despite being darted by DuBois) and the penguins realize that the group had been ambushed. Upon learning about the zoo animals' plight, Gia and Vitaly convince the circus animals to rescue their friends and they set out for the zoo, performing aboard a flying circus, with the rescue mission dubbed "Operation: Afro Circus Rescue."Meanwhile at the zoo, Alex awakens to find that he along with Marty, Melman, and Gloria are in their enclosures, surrounded by tall chain-link fences. DuBois steps on stage to receive a million-dollar check of appreciation from the zoo, but at the same time secretly loads a poison-filled dart into a gun which she hides inside a foam finger in preparation to kill Alex. The circus animals arrive in time to stop her and a massive brawl occurs where the circus uses all of what they had developed as part of their revamped act. As the group tries to leave, the insane DuBois attempts to kill Stefano, who is stranded at the zoo. However, Alex saves Stefano and all the animals then defeat DuBois and escape.Heartened by this valiant demonstration of their new friends' love, Alex and his friends decide to join the circus permanently. With the circus reunited, the animals all happily proceed with their American tour. Meanwhile, thanks to Skipper, DuBois and her men find themselves, oddly enough just like Alex and his friends in the first film, inside shipping crates on a cargo ship bound for the island of Madagascar.

Tags: sentimental

Review:
This film has them traveling with a group of circus animals all throughout Europe on the run from a French animal hunter who has killed every animal and has mounted their head on her wall, except for a lion.This movie stars the voice talents of Ben Stiller (Tower Heist, Tropic Thunder), Chris Rock (Grown ups, The Longest Yard), David Schwimmer (Friends, John Carter), Jada Pinkett Smith (Ali, Collateral), Sasha Baron Cohen (Borat, Bruno), Cedric the Entertainer (Larry Crowne, Ice Age), and Bryan Cranston (Drive, Breaking Bad).
Everyone did a great job with their characters and it was a blast to hear all these familiar voices in a film together again.I have been a fan of the previous "Madagascar" films, and that still is the case, but I really didn't have any hype for this movie because from the trailers, it didn't really look that good.
There are other film franchises that grow from strength to strength though, such as Ice Age where we get to go on an incredibly long journey with its characters trying to survive the inevitable change and extinction, and then there's Madagascar, with Europe's Most Wanted surprisingly having a lot more to offer than what it had suggested.We go back to where we last left off, rejoining Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer) and Gloria the Hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) who are still in Africa, but getting homesick and yearn for their lives back in New York.
It's clearly one of the better 3D efforts in an animated feature film that took pains to ensure the medium got milked for the premium ticket you paid for.Then the narrative goes up a notch with the introduction of some circus animals with whom our protagonists get to mix with in order to momentarily escape the fanatical clutches of DuBois, and in comes the opportunity to expand on its cast, with the likes of Jessica Chastain, Bryan Cranston and Martin Short entering the fray as a cheetah, tiger and sea lion respectively, each with its own distinct quirk, objective and baggage.
It's a zoo animal meets circus animal rivalry formed, and Alex and gang wanting to stick around, with thanks to the Penguins, because the circus is en route to Rome and London, where an American circus event promoter would be in town to evaluate if the troupe can make money if brought across the Atlantic, and naturally, New York.I'm rather surprised by the depth of the narrative here, as Eric Damell and Noah Baumbach's screenplay managed to squeeze a lot in under 90 minutes sans end credits roll.
The major new entrants to this installment will also become crowd favourites, such as the girly cheetah Gia, the curt Russian tiger Vitaly who has to reclaim his theatrical mojo, and Stefano the sea lion trying his very best to hold the entire troupe together, while not being very bright himself.Every scene got designed to have the characters endear themselves to the audience, even if they come silent, such as the bicycle riding bear, and a couple of English dogs voiced by the likes of Vinnie Jones, Steve Jones and Nick Fletcher.
Since the police team where obviously the bad guys (DuBois only wants to capture Mike (Ben Stiller) so she can add his head to her mounted collection of stuffed animals on her office wall) it was ironic that I watched this in France since the police were portrayed as bunch gung-ho obsessive freaks (DuBois crawls around on all fours to sniff down her prey like a dog come insect).
The story incorporates new characters beautifully by adding a love interest for Alex (Gia, voiced by Jessica Chastain), a dopey friend for Marty (Stefano, voiced by Martin Short), and a fallen hero everyone can cheer for (Vitaly, a tiger voiced by Bryan Cranston).
These moments only accounted for about 5 of the nearly 90 minutes of running time, so do not let that deter you from enjoying this chaotic adventure.Madagascar 3 is just like going to the circus, but with more laughter and less wondering about how the animals are treated backstage.
So, in review, take the kids if you've drank enough coffee (I fell asleep twice), expect nothing new, be impressed with the superb animation, let the kids talk about it for a few minutes after the movie, and watch Ben Stiller play a lion who acts like Ben Stiller..
This time Alex and the gang are on the run from an evil French Animal killer(who I swear is the dead ringer of Mother Gothel from Tangled down to the features and Cruella De Vil's persona)who is trying to kill Alex for her collection of animal heads that she got.So Alec and the gang head off to Europe as they stumble across a circus hideout where Alec meets a female tiger like himself(well his a Lion I know that) and well you can probably figure out the rest yourselves.The animation is great and the charcthers are good,now I tell you one of my favourite scenes,its the part where Alec and the female tiger are going around in loops to the song Firework by Katy Perry and another was the part where Marty the Zebra was driving the car with Alec and his other CO,that was so funny.But since this looks like the last one of the trilogy.I hope that there isn't another sequel to this movie.
Madagascar 3 : Europe 's Most Wanted is much greater than before, more does not make it a good movie, it's just cool , the first 30 minutes are good and fun , the plot is even cool, even with several problems , the characters remain good , now the penguins have more prominence , the soundtrack is good , has some Italian songs , King Julian has more prominence than the other films , I had the opportunity to watch this movie in the theater , and it was good fun, has to pass time, also the film is not even over, the villain of the film is better than the second film, more does not make it great , even more so she convinces , Madagascar 3 : Europe 's most Wanted is a good pass time for when you bored.
'MADAGASCAR 3: EUROPE'S MOST WANTED': Two Stars (Out of Five) The second sequel to the popular DreamWorks animated movie finds the animal characters from the first two films once again trying to make their way home to New York Central Zoo, where they originally escaped from.
Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, Andy Richter and Tom McGrath all reprise their voice roles and are joined this time by Jessica Chastain, Frances McDormand, Bryan Cranston and Martin Short.
Should please kids though.Alex the lion (Stiller), Marty the zebra (Rock), Melman the giraffe (Schwimmer) and Gloria the hippo (Smith) are still trying to make their way home to the New York Central Zoo, which they escaped from in the original film and traveled to Madagascar (with the help of four penguins).
good job to the director Eric Darnhill and Tom Macgrat.This Movie was Hillariously Brilliant People now can spend their money on a good movie which is worth watching.enjoyed every minute of this movie.its basicaly a story of few animal friends who are finding their way back to their home new york , unfrotunatly they are stuck in Africa.
This time the film starts in Africa as they await the arrival of the penguins (animals who also left the zoo from the first movie) to take them back to the zoo.Apparently in the movie I didn't see Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008), the penguins had created a crude aircraft that could fly to Monte Carlo but didn't bring the main characters for some unknown reason.
Madagascar 3 is not a movie I deem perfect, there is some suggestive dialogue during King Julien's romance especially(and in other parts of the film) that will fly over children's heads and only adults will get(same goes with the glove slap) and you do have to suspend disbelief a bit in Alex's dream when the penguins use warp drive for their airship(which you can't do in the earth's atmosphere), especially if you are a scientist.On the other hand, it is a fun and hugely enjoyable film.
Bryan Cranston is subtly menacing, Jessica Chastain is charming and Martin Short is funny, but the jewel(and possibly the best single voice-over of the three movies) is Frances McDormand, whose DuBois is note-perfect.In conclusion, a very good sequel and movie and my vote for the best of the Madagascar movies.
A distinct lack of charm and originality have never been criticisms to inspire a studio to scrap a billion dollar franchise in favour of doing something a little more worthwhile, so Alex the lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer) and Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) return four years after their detour to Africa for another continent-spanning adventure, this time in Europe.
He's in the movie throughout most of its entirety, but he never does anything to change the plot, other than having a side-story about his relationship with a bear on a tricycle.Overall, Madagascar 3 is a fun time for the whole family.
In Madagascar 3, Alex the lion, Marty the Zebra, Gloria the Hippo, and Melman the Giraffe are back still trying to find their way back to the New York City Zoo. They join a circus that promises of traveling to America.
I am no fan of the technology but still if I am ever given a choice to sit in for a 3D movie I will go for an animation rather than a motion picture.Not a bad way to spend an evening and if you want to watch make sure you try your best to watch in HD or Blu Ray, the animations are to die for.TITLE: MADAGASCAR 3: EUROPES MOST WANTED DIRECTED BY: Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath STARRING: BEN STILLER, CHRIS ROCK, David SCHWIMMER, JADA PINKETT SMITH, SACHA BARON COHEN and CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER RATED: PG13 RATING: 06/10 RUNTIME: 93 MINUTES.
But for viewers beyond 9th Grade {Ages 15 and older}, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted has little.Picking up where we left off in Escape 2 Africa, Alex the Lion {Ben Stiller}, Marty the Zebra {Chris Rock, acting like an annoying party guest at times}, Gloria the Hippo {Jada Pinkett Smith}, Melman the Giraffe {David Schwimmer} and King Julien, the Lemur {Sacha Baron Cohen} decides to return home this time to the Central Park Zoo. But first, they attempt to pick up their fellow friends, the Penguins and the Monkeys in France's Monte Carlo.The plan soon goes into danger mode when the animals are being chased by Captain Chantel DuBois {Frances Macdormand}.
The Madagascar series feels like it is playing itself out, especially with the Penguins TV series being out there.What makes this movie fun is not the core characters.
The story leaves plenty of room and opportunities for fun and gags, involving all of the characters, new and old ones.Also the animations seemed to be more smooth, as if they decided to spend some more money and/or to put some more time into the making of this movie this time.
This is the third and final (by now) chapter of the Madagascar franchise, and it's good as his predecessors.Here Alex, Marty, Gloria and Melman are ''stuck'' in Africa, and then Alex has a nightmare where all his friends are old, but soon he wakes up and remembers that is his birthday, and has the idea to go to Monte Carlo and get the penguins, but they are soon discovered by a French animal catcher named Captain Chantal DuBois that wants to kill Alex for his head on the wall, but when they defeat her, the plane falls on the ground and the quartet joins a travelling circus direct to the Usa.And they soon befriend a Russian tiger named Vitaly, a female Jaguar, a Italian sea lion named Stefano and few other animals.
They perform in Rome, Saragoza, and then New York, and the circus animals help the quartet in knocking off forever Captain DuBois, sending her on a ship to Madagascar.The first Madagascar movie was great (and I wrote a long review about it), the second was good and this is also well made.The animation is good as always, the soundtrack nice to hear at (with the catchy song AFRO CIRCUS) and the actors are all good, especially Ben Stiller as Alex, Martin Short as Stefano and Oscar winner Frances McDormand as the villain Chantal DuBois.I recommend this movie to the fans of the trilogy, but (ALERT) you can't see this if you didn't saw the first and the second chapter!.
To be blatantly honest, the film is really not that funny despite the amount of talent involved.King Julian is one of my all-time favourite animated characters, but the King Julian I fell in love with in Mad 1 and 2 disappeared in screen time and stripped down to a form of his lesser self in this instalment, being replaced by the less likable Stefano who's not just a blubber of a sealion, but also a blubbering mess.If you prefer a visual overload without any sort of narrative depth or comedy anyone over five can enjoy, then this is the movie for you..
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most WantedThe thing about Europe's Most Wanted is most often the wanted is a Canadian fleeing dismemberment charges back home.However, in the case of this animated movie, the hunted are all Americans.Alex the lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) and Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer) flee Madagascar for their home in NYC.Stopping in Monte Carlo to pick up their penguin pals' plane, the zoo crew attracts an Animal Control officer (Frances McDormand) determined to mount Alex's pride.But when their plane doesn't pan out, Alex and the gang must join a traveling circus disguised as Big Top performers.While the cast has grown long in the fang, the injection of new characters, garish colours and foreign venues has revitalizes this waning series.Incidentally, between a zoo and a circus, these exotic creatures would suffer less abuse hiding in an abattoir.
Madagascar 3 EMW brings us back to the happy fun group of Alex, Marty, Gloria and Melman, along with King Julien, Maurice, Mort, and the penguins.Seeking the penguins in Monte Carlo, the group made chaos in a hotel and thus we're introduced to the antagonist Captain Chantel DuBois, the leader of the French Animal Control.
Well, to be honest i really didn't like the first Madagascar movie, the second one was better, but still wasn't good enough and now we have the third one and this is the first of the trilogy that doesn't have an original story, common this is the story you have already seen or hear of at least a million times, the only interesting part is the very beginning and thats it, the villain is in some aspects a good one, the jokes are bad, i mean even for a kid, the story is a cliché, the music by Hanz Zimmer (Alex on the spot) is awesome (only the Hanz Zimmer version, with no singer) the songs used were good, i didn't expect more for a movie like this, this is not a bad film, but if you want to see the same story over and over only that this time with Madagascar characters, go ahead, to me this movie is a 6 out of 10.
The makers went over board and decided to make the movie unrealistic to the core, Tom and Jerry style.DreamWorks Animation's CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, confirmed in 2008 that there will be a part three to Alex and his crew's adventure, promising us that we will see them return to New York.The animation is just as good as the other installments and as usual the producers gave King Julien XIII (Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat 2006 and The Dictator 2012) his own story and this time it is a romantic one.
Main characters were good as usual but the villain was awful the animation great the story ok but a full mess the best bit was the London part of the circus the film ended up more structured..
Chantel DuBois is a great addition to the other villains from Dreamworks Animation's other films and the voice work from Frances McDormand is excellent while Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith, David Schwimmer, and the new voice actors voiced the other characters brilliantly.The best part would have to go to the animation.
The character animation on the animals is fine and their fur is nicely detailed.Overall, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted is by no means a great family movie and the best of the series.
Madagascar 3: Europes Most Wanted is a great movie with a terrific storyline,humor,cast and characters.I found it to be as good,or possibly better than the first two,it could be better but I haven't seen them in a good while to say so.I've always enjoyed the movies cast,especially Ben Stiller and Sacha Baron Cohen,Stiller because I think hes an amazing actor and Cohen because he is so funny.I wouldn't say that I'm much of a fan of these movies,but if they continue to make more,ill continue to watch.The gang get away from Africa and are now finding there way back to New York,they manage to find a way home by joining a traveling circus headed to there destination..
Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller) and his mates depart Africa for New York, but not before going via Europe with a travelling circus and gaining the attention of the malevolent animal control Captain Chantel DuBois (Frances McDormand).
With the addition of a bunch of new characters and a circus themed story Madagascar 3 simply is the best animated film released this year.
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted might just be the best animated film I have seen in a couple of years!
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted continues with the adventures of Alex(Ben Stiller), Marty(Chris Rock), Gloria(Jada Pinkett Smith) & Melman(David Schwimmer) as they attempt to return to New York City, their home.