A new release movie! Parents, are you going guano-crazy with your kids all over the house this holiday season? Are snow days preventing you from keeping your sanity because your booger-eaters are home and chanting, "I'm bored!"? Then take them out to a movie! Even on snow days, the theaters are open! And why not go to a movie you'll all like? I would recommend...
MADAGASCAR:
ESCAPE 2 AFRICA
Theatrical Release: November 2008
Genre: Family, which always means it's really geared towards your kids and if you're lucky, there are some jokes included for the adults in the audience
Sub-genre: I guess, maybe, cartoon comedy...
Starring: Many voice talents! Seeing as how my super-human power is identifying celebrity voiceovers, I'll tell you the ones I could recognize without the help of IMDB: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Alec Baldwin, Sacha Baron Cohen, Harland Williams, Bernie Mac (R.I.P.), and Cedric The Entertainer... Now with IMDB's help: Jada Pinkett Smith (and she's a main character! I can't believe I missed that!), will.i.am, and Andy Richter (as the Head Penguin In Charge, HPIC, my favorite character)
The overview: The sequel picks up right where the first one left off. The four escaped New York City Central Park Zoo refugees have a plan to fly back to NYC via a "repaired" WWII-era plane. In a stunning injection of reality, the plane can't make it any farther than Africa, specifically Kenya and the savannah surrounding Mt. Kilimanjaro. Alec the lion (Ben Stiller) happens upon his birth parents, which is something that can only only only ever happen in cartoons. Some shit goes down, the penguins enlist the help of the monkeys to rebuild the plane (better, faster, stronger), Alec Baldwin's mane is perfectly coifed and hysterical, there's an inter-species love interest, and by the time the movie's over, you wish there was a spinoff sequel JUST about King Julien, the lemur (Sacha Baron Cohen, awesome in everything he does).
So if you're the kind of adult who finds yourself laughing at a lot of scenes in cartoon movies nowadays, this one would be a good one for you to bring your kids to. And thank God today's writers and producers DO include some laughs just for adults. I could never sit through a Barney movie, no matter how much my daughter loves that big purple speedbump. But last week we bought all the toys from the Happy Meals and she insisted I recite all of their pre-recorded catchphrases from the movie over and over and over until I fell asleep repeating them. This wasn't as annoying as one might think and I'll always hear her say, "Daddy, you gotta say 'Ow ow ow!' now!"
Pixar has put out some quality work over the years and I guarantee there are even a few that you secretly turn the TV to when no one else is home. Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, Cars, and my personal favorite, The Incredibles. And why are these movies so great for your kids and you to go to? Because there isn't one stupid sing-a-long or dance number or lame-ass chorus in any of them. Think about it: when was the last time you watched a musical? Did you enjoy it? Aside from Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory (the 1971 film, not that idiotic 2005 re-imagining from Tim Burton), musicals feel incredibly staged and wholly unrealistic. And kids don't even care much for the music, certainly not as much as a Disney executive or self-centered composer does. In Madagascar 2, there are a lot of similarities to The Lion King but with great improvements: NO singing, minimal loss of life, better jokes, and the racism is just barely noticeable in Madagascar, as opposed to The Lion King, where all the hyenas were voiced by minorities and had stereotypical characteristics and mannerisms of minorities. Madagascar is just funny, with a good story where Alex the lion finds his birth parents by accident and is challenged to pass a manhood test by Alec Baldwin. The movie jumps around between subplots which are, fortunately, focused on the overall goal of the movie (getting out of Africa) and don't distract you from the big picture. Keep your eyes peeled whenever the penguins are on the screen, since they talk fast and the jokes come rapid fire from them. Throw in a suicidal, hypochondriac, witch doctor giraffe, a pack of hippos who sing love songs that go, "Girl, you fine... You huge... You
chunky...", the lemur king, Julien, who's only important in his own mind, and a land shark ("Candy-gram...") and how could you NOT enjoy this movie?!
Your kids will thank you for bringing them, you'll enjoy the film yourself, and the only drawback would be that without musical numbers, there's no appropriate time to get up to go pee. Just don't get a large soda.
Best Scene: There are quite a few enjoyable scenes, even in a theater overrun with children. A lot of the jokes are sight gags so I'll just say that when the penguins plan to hijack a tourist Jeep to get off the reserve, THAT alone is worth the admission. I laughed so hard I nearly peed. And Carly thought it was hilarious too. We got to enjoy that joke together and we have that little moment forever. Please to enjoy...
Overall: Another 10 out of 10! That's two in a row! And I gave this movie a perfect score without any fart jokes... But it's full of militaristic penguins, hypochondriac giraffes, my beloved King Julien, and Alec Baldwin, who is slowly becoming my favorite actor, the more I watch him in 30 Rock.
Who would enjoy this movie: Your kids, their playdates, your church group, Grandma, and to a great extent, adults who still enjoy cartoons.
Watch it if you like: And I mean if you liked these as a grown-up: The Incredibles, Monsters, Inc., Toy Story, The Simpsons, Family Guy
Next In My Netflix Q: After my Top 5 Best Christmas Movies, you mean?! That'd be Into The Wild, Sean Penn's directorial foray. A true story about a young man who disappears into the Alaskan wilderness. My sister says this a bit of a bummer but I like Sean Penn as a filmmaker. As a person he's incredibly pretentious but he makes good movies and he's good at what he does.
And since I lost my job, I have a feeling I'll have lots of free time to watch movies, write about them endlessly, not shave or brush my teeth, wear a bathrobe everywhere, and yell at the news.
**Thanks to Google, Wikipedia, and IMDb for various reference sources**
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