The 2005 animated box office champ has arrived on DVD and it provides enough laughs to be well worth a viewing. Marty (Chris Rock, NURSE BETTY) is a zebra in the Central Park Zoo in New York City. He has never been to the wild and dreams of what it would be like to go. When he shares his desires with his friends Alex the lion (Ben Stiller, DODGEBALL), Melman the hypochondriac giraffe (David Schwimmer, TV’s FRIENDS) and Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith, THE MATRIX RELOADED) they think he’s nuts for wanting to leave the pampered life of the zoo. Especially for Alex, who is the superstar attraction of the zoo, leaving is not an option.
With the help of some spy-like penguins (director Tom McGrath), Marty gets out into the city, which leads to him and his friends being shipped off to a wildlife reserve in Africa. However, along the way, they become shipwrecked on the tropical island of Madagascar where they run into a tribe of lemurs, ruled by King Julien (Sacha Baron Cohen, TV’s DA ALI G SHOW) and his right-hand-man Maurice (Cedric the Entertainer, ORIGINAL KINGS OF COMEDY). The lemurs want to enlist Alex to scare away jackals that have been preying on their people. Tension builds between the zoo friends and when the call of the wild takes over, Alex begins to look upon his friends as food.
I liked the dynamic between Stiller and Rock a lot. We relate to their odd couple friendship. Marty dreams of something he's never had, but sometimes you get what you wish for. These animals from the concrete jungle are not ready for the real jungle. Schwimmer’s character for the most part was annoying and Pinkett Smith was forgettable. However, the penguins steal every scene they’re in.
The early scenes in the zoo have a host of humorous gags one after another, but the film loses a little steam once the characters get on the island. One can see, with the out of place pop culture references, the screenwriters might have been scrounging for ideas. However, once the core conflict of Alex going wild kicks in, the film takes on a nice bit of heart. I loved the angular character design and liked that DreamWorks didn’t go too SHREK-like with the film references. In capturing a classic cartoon feel, the film was lively, fun and kept me thoroughly entertained.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
