One of the best casts of the year unite for one of the more disappointing films of the year, Madagascar 2. Being a mild fan of the original, I wanted to check this out. And the cast definitely does not disappoint. Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Alec Baldwin, and the late, great, Bernie Mac all get their spotlight. Heck, even the lead rapper of the Black Eyed Peas is here.
A couple of the jokes really are quite clever and it's more mature than the original. But quite simply, it's not that funny.
Our original animal heroes return from the first film. Alex, the showman lion, Marty, the wise-cracking zebra, Gloria, the sassy hippo, and Melman, the quirky giraffe. They are still stuck on Madagascar, but the penguins (yes! they return) devise a plan for them to fly to NYC with a crashed plane. It doesn't work too well, and they crashland in Africa.
Alex is reunited with his parents there, Marty meets about a million other zebras exactly like him (all of them also voiced by Chris Rock), Melman is made the local witch doctor. And Gloria? She falls for a giant (and do I mean giant) hippo named (wait for it) Moto Moto. Why does Moto Moto like Gloria?
- "Well, uh, you giant, girl!"
- "Well yeah, but Moto Moto, why else do you like me?"
- "Cuz you huge, Gloria!"
It seems great in Africa but a sneaky, mean lion named Makunga causes events that banish Alex from the land. And then the water hole dries up. Can he fix everything before it's too late?
Like I said, some moments are genuinely hilarious. The best scene in the film involves, unsurprisingly, the penguins and their grand plan to hijack a local tour bus. Chris Rock is still really funny as Marty, and Sacha Baron Cohen is underused, albeit hilarious. But alot of the jokes are either really "kiddy" or would just fly over their heads. I was surprised and disgusted when a couple of homophobic jokes popped up.
But alas, Madagascar 2 is for the kiddies, and the kiddies and their parents will flock to it in droves. One will like it, another will be staring at their watch. I leave the guessing to you. C-
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment