Madagascar

I went and saw DreamWorks new animated feature Madagascar last weekend. I was not disappointed.

Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer), and Gloria the Hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) have lived a life of ease as the stars of the Central Park Zoo. At least until Marty has a mid-life crisis and gets all the animals at the zoo deported (actually sent back to the wild, much to the joy of the wildlife activists) and our quartet ends up on the island of Madagascar where the group finds out what it is really like to be in the "wild" and what real frienship is, especially when Marty looks like a good rump roast to Alex.

This was a good movie. Thankfully, Ben Stiller doesn't sound much like himself, or else the movie would have been unwatchable for me. The rest of the cast rounds out a very funny group. Schwimmer was great portraying a hypochondriac. The monkeys were an absolute riot and King Julien (Sacha Baron Cohen) steals the show. The Penguins added a perfect touch as the Antartica Mafia. Chris Rock shines.

Like most of the Dreamworks animated flicks, there is enough to keep the kids entertained, and enough pop culture/adult humor to entertain the rest of us. The film was funny, but seemed to drag in a couple of spots and really seemed like it should have been funnier throughout. Yet, the animation alone is worth the price of admission.

This movie is a fun little romp and worth seeing on the big screen.