Movie Thoughts: Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)

 

• Released: November 7, 2008
  
• Directed by: Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath
• Running time: 1 h 29 min
• Rating: 3.5/5

Synopsis

Now stranded on the African Savannah, Alex, Marty, Melman and Gloria are each facing their own troubles. Things only escalate when the local water supply dries up.

My Thoughts

Wait, this movie came out in 2008? As in, the year of Bolt? I somehow always thought this was like...2012, 2013? 2010 at the very earliest? God, I feel old.

Also, yes, I know I haven't reviewed the other Madagascar movies (sans Penguins from Madagascar) yet. I'm sure I'll get to it eventually.

Plot time: the crew crash lands in the African Savannah, where the penguins and chimps will now have to work hard to rebuild the plane so they can go home to New York. Alex finds his biological parents, but also discovers that he doesn't know how to be a "true" lion. Marty struggles with his individuality, Gloria has trouble finding a man and Melman thinks he is dying while also having a huge crush on her. When the waterhole dries up, they will have to work out their differences and work together to bring the water back.

When people talk good Dreamworks series the ones you usually hear are How to Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda (which is actually getting a fourth movie now) and Shrek. I want to argue that the Madagascar series is honestly slightly underrated and deserves at least an honorable mention when the other three are brought up.

Look, okay, these are no master pieces. The visual looks are just a tad dated (especially in the first two movies texture-wise), the style is a bit weird (not my cup of tea) and they're not as deep and epic as these other series can get. But at the same time I think the Madagascar movies are just...really funny? Especially the second and third, they just crack me up and I watch them from time to time when I'm in the mood for a laugh. I do again think that they somewhat pale in comparison in funniness when you compare it to some moments of Kung Fu Panda and a lot of Shrek, but that doesn't make what we do have in Madagascar any less funny.

With this second movie that is again the case. It doesn't look perfect (animation doesn't always feel natural and hinges more upon fast and comedic movements, textures are a bit dated and I still don't like the visual style much), but it does have some things going for it with interesting interpersonal character conflict and just a whole lot of humor. The penguins aren't even in this movie that much but their subplot with the chimps is just really funny. 

And it does even manage to get some heartfelt moments in there as well, despite the general silliness of it all. I'll admit I was less invested in the Gloria-Melman romance plot (it felt a bit forced, especially since it was never alluded to in the first movie) but Melman's speech was pretty heartwarming and does show that he truly cares for her and wants what's best for her. And of course the friendship moments between Alex and Marty and especially the relationship between Alex and his parents is just...wholesome. Alex may not act like a "true" lion in the sense that he doesn't know how a wild lion is supposed to act, but in the end he proves that that doesn't make him any less of a lion than the rest of his pride.

I will have to admit that there's some weird implications in the society of the Savannah animals here, though. Again, I've brought this up before, but when you have a bunch of animals (predator and prey) able to communicate and live together, and then the predators still eat the equally sentient prey it just gives off weird vibes. Here, all animals are led by Zuba the lion, which just raises some questions. Lion King does this too. Like why are these prey animals happy to let a predator that will eventually hunt and eat them rule over them? I know we're not supposed to think about it, but at least the last movie elaborately adressed the concept of a predator living among prey animals with Alex's conflict. Here it's just...these animals all live together yet the lions are still hunting the prey. Deal with it. No questions asked. The last movie's resolution was that Alex was going to step over to a pescetarian diet, but that's never brought up again here.

But overall this is a really hilarious movie and has some really good heartfelt moments, which is more than enough for me despite it looking a bit dated and weird. Not the best, but definitely a laughing riot.