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| I Wish I Was Watching Madagascar 2 By: Mai Eldib I laughed. And then I laughed again. I thought that an animated kid’s movie wouldn’t be funny enough or even sufficiently engaging, but Madagascar 2: Escape 2 Africa, passes with flying colors. Madgascar 2 is a hilarious animated feature that is appropriate and entertaining for all ages. Granted that there is already talk of a potential Madagascar 3 – given its great success in its opening weekend. With the A-list star cast such as Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett-Smith, David Schwimmer and the extremely funny Sacha Baron Cohen, Madagascar 2 also adds to its cast for the second movie the late Bernie Mac, the ever entertaining Will.I.Am and Alec Baldwin. The movie is heavily based on the theme of closure and reunions. Madagascar 2 picks up from where it left off in Madagascar, where Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller), Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer), Gloria the Hippo (Jada Pinkett-Smith) and Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock) are stuck in Madgascar trying to find a way to get back to their carefree life in a New York Zoo. The movie begins with the remiscene of the past of how Alex the Lion came to be living in New York. Alex’s father, Zuba (Bernie Mac) attempts to teach his son to be more of a fighter, while Alex is happier with the brighter side of life of dancing and entertainment. Due to his gulliabilty Alex, at the young age is lured by hunters and kidnapped to New York. The movie then picks up from the first Madagascar with the 4 animals thinking that they are en route to the United States through a dubiously restored airplane, however they crash land in Africa, where coincidently they land in the original home land of Alex the Lion. While in fact all four animals are thrust back into their original home land, the movie shows the struggles with rehabilitation. With many puns in the movie about unions and non-unions, the penguins being the former and the chimpanzees the latter, the puns to day-to-day life are self evident. The movie’s protagonist however, is Alex the Lion and his return to Africa is a difficult task, since Alex is essentially is not built for the wild. Like the other animals, Melman the Giraffe, Gloria the Hippo and Marty the Zebra, they grow to realize that having too many of them isn’t a great idea after all. They are no longer unique individuals, but part of herd. The movie deals with a lot of real life issues, where Moto Moto (Will.I.Am) starts wooing a sort of not so slim Gloria which dispels the importance of size when it comes to attractions. And also the ever popular Gloria is the love interest of Melman, who is a Giraffe, hinting on the aspect of dating people who don’t necessarily look like you. The movie is funny and engrossing add to that a star studded cast voicing animals dancing and cracking jokes. Word on the internet is that Madagascar 3 won’t be out until 2011, so I am contemplating re-renting Madagascar 1 and going to the movies for another screening of Madagascar 2, because comedy like this isn’t always available. |
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