Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted

(The Dreamworks-uary logo is shown, before showing clips from *Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted*. The movie's version of "I Like to Move It" plays in the background throughout)

Doug (vo): Let's wrap up Dreamworks-uary with *Madagascar 3*, the third and presumably last in the *Madagascar* movies. And I have to say, this seems like a series of movies that just keeps getting better and better. The first one was funny, the second one was really funny. The third one is just constantly hilarious, except when it needs to be heartfelt and sentimental, and it does that very, very well. It has the same great characters, the same great energy, the same great animation, and a whole bunch of visual wonder.

## Story

Doug (vo): The story starts off, much like the last one, exactly where it left off. Our crew is still stuck in Africa, but the Penguins have apparently taken the plane and gone to Europe to try and find help\*. But it seems they have been taking too long, so the animals decide to take matters into their own hands and just go to Europe themselves...which is strange. Why didn't they go there before...? Eh, cartoon logic, it runs on cartoon logic. They catch the Penguins gambling and try to take their winnings to get a ride back home. But the police is called on them, and a fearsome creature named La Capitan DuBois *[A caption is shown saying "This villain is hilarious!"]* is on a quest to add the missing part of her collection, a lion. She obsesses over getting her prize and will stop at nothing until the lion's head is hers. Trying to find a way to escape, the animals find a circus train and sneak onboard. But in order for them not to blow their cover, they say that they're circus animals, and thus, the circus train welcomes them aboard. Thinking they can use this as a means to get back home, they buy the circus with the money they have and see if they can use their talents to work their way back to the city. The only problem is, the circus stinks. They used to have a lot of great talents onboard, but most of them have fallen flat in the past few years. So it's up to our main characters to try and get the circus back on track, while also avoiding the watchful eye of La Capitan.

* *Actually, the Penguins went to Europe to go on a gambling spree (in the second film, Skipper said he was going on a honeymoon)*

## Review

Doug (vo): Not only did this movie have the most laughs, but I think it also had the most funny characters. That's Frances McDormand as La Capitan, and, honestly, you could never tell. She just gets lost in the role and you're too busy laughing at her in order to figure out that it's actually her playing it.

Capitan Chantal DuBois: Get back, you fool! *[Slaps a French man]* Your cheap cologne is obscuring the animal musk!

Man: Oh, my face!

Doug (vo): That's also Martin Short as an Italian seal\*, and again, you would never know. He just does such a great job, you would never figure it out.

* *Actually, he is a sea lion*

Stefano: Trapeze Americano! Hey, I have a great idea. Maybe you come-a with us to Roma! *[A knife hits a wall in front of him, scaring the animals]* Vitaly is just-a playing around.

Doug (vo): The rest of the actors once again just do great in reprising these roles at being incredibly entertaining and giving great deliveries. And once again, they do great in balancing out the heartfelt moments as well, including a circus performer that used to be the top of the world, but has since then become afraid, even terrified of letting people down with his stunts that he doesn't think can work anymore.

*[The scene where the main characters are found out they're not really circus animals, as well as their return to New York, is shown]*

Doug (vo): Now it's true the story does work its way, I guess, into the inevitable "liar revealed" plot, which a lot of you know I really despise. But A: They don't focus on it very long. And B: In this story, it sort of works. There's a very surprising yet genuine twist when they get back to their home, and taking into account everything they've gone through in the other movies, you'd almost swear this was planned, like they knew they were gonna do this from the start.

*[Several clips are shown, most of which look like it's supposed to be in 3D]*

Doug (vo): Now the only other element that might be a little distracting is this movie was shot in 3D, and, while it's not as bad as other 3D films that like to show off their technology, this one definitely does get some weird shots at times. Not quite to the point where it's distracting, but you can definitely kind of take notice. But in other scenes, it's so visually interesting and incredibly colorful, you don't mind. The actual performance of the circus when they get it perfected is just wonderful to look at. It's imaginative, it's musical, it's upbeat, it's energetic.

## Final thought

Doug (vo): I didn't quite see anything like that in the other two *Madagascar* films, and that's one of the reasons I think this one's the best. But that's not the only reason. The characters still work great off each other, it has a great villain, it has great side characters, it has good drama, it has good comedy, it has good visuals, it has funny subplots. Everything about it just seems to work out perfectly. I really do hope they stop here, because I don't think they could top it after this. It seemed like every film was getting closer and closer to that wild yet really imaginative comedy. And here, I think it's perfected, while also having some characters you really do care about and you want to see them get through their predicament. Films like these make me really happy that I did Dreamworks-uary, because honestly, I probably wouldn't have seen them. It shows you that a series of films you'd think is just getting worse and worse sometimes, it turns out, is just getting better and better. And speaking of "better and better", I hope that DreamWorks does nothing but do that with its animated films. They've been creative, they've been inspiring, they've been dramatic, they've opened up the doors to all sorts of new realms of imagination. It's been great reviewing them, and all I can say is, I hope to see more great products in the future.

*[The scene where the main characters and circus characters reunite after defeating the villain is shown]*

King Julien: Three, two, one.