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Madagascar

Madagascar (2005)

May. 27,2005
|
6.9
|
PG
| Adventure Animation Comedy Family

Alex the lion is the king of the urban jungle, the main attraction at New York's Central Park Zoo. He and his best friends—Marty the zebra, Melman the giraffe and Gloria the hippo—have spent their whole lives in blissful captivity before an admiring public and with regular meals provided for them. Not content to leave well enough alone, Marty lets his curiosity get the better of him and makes his escape—with the help of some prodigious penguins—to explore the world.

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Reviews

bellino-angelo2014
2005/05/27

I saw this movie for the first time when it came out in theaters in 2005, and I loved it, along with my parents, then I saw it various times in these years, and today I still love it. And it deserves a higher rating than 6.9.Considering the period this movie came out (practically when theaters were bombarded by great CGI animated movies such as SHREK, FINDING NEMO and ICE AGE), it has an original storyline, with four animals (a lion, a zebra, a hippopotamus and a giraffe) that live as friends in the Central Park zoo. But when Marty the zebra wants to escape, his friends also escape coming to his rescue, only to get captured (along with four penguins and two chimpanzees) and loaded on a ship direct to Kenya. Soon the four penguins sabotage the ship, and the quartet ends in Madagascar, and... well see the movie by yourself.I'll talk about the qualities of this movie: (1) The animation is good, and especially the jungle backgrounds are charming to look at (2) The cast is awfully good, especially Ben Stiller and Chris Rock are perfect as Alex and Marty using their tipical jokes from their previous movies, and Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer and Andy Ricther are a hoot as the three main lemur characters (King Julien, Maurice and Mort) (3) The soundtrack is amazing, with the recurring theme of BORN FREE, that is perfectly suited for Marty's spirit, and I LIKE TO MOVE IT, MOVE IT, a popular disco song from the 1990s that regained popularity after this movie came out.I want to talk about the penguins, my favourite characters of the movie. They are only supporting characters, but when they appear they steal the show! Skipper does also a nice Robert Stack impersonation, and it's very convincing as the penguin commander. The story line has not only comedy moments, but even his drama moments, especially when Alex returns with his carnivorous instincts after a period in the wild and wants to eat his best friend Marty, and then they reconcile. People should learn this from Madagscar: true friendship reigns over everything, and even when dark sides emerge, they stop with true friends' helping.The scene that scared me was when a hummingbird was killed by a carnivorous plant and a duckling killed by a crocodile, but the best scene was the lemur dance and song scene.I also saw on the DVD the featurette about the making process of the movie and even a short documentary about the Madagascar island.It's one of the greatest animated movies in recent memory, and if you never saw it, what are you waiting for? It's a must-see!

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areatw
2005/05/28

'Madagascar' is a good animated family film, funny enough to be enjoyed by adults as well as kids. The main character work well together, though I would have liked to see more of the penguins and the two monkeys - the funniest characters in the movie.The plot is lacking somewhat and falls away towards the end, but there is enough fun to keep it going for the full 80 minute duration. There were some good choices for the voice actors and the animation was, as you would expect, colourful and on point.What certainly not spectacular, 'Madagascar' is good animated fun that can be enjoyed by all the family.

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Sean Lamberger
2005/05/29

A group of lifelong zoo captives, buddies despite their hunter-vs-hunted natural relationship, arrange a prison break and try to find themselves, for better or worse, in the wild. Madagascar is a rough early effort from DreamWorks animation and, for the most part, it's a waste of vocal talent. Ben Stiller, Chris Rock and Sacha Baron Cohen all chip in on a ho-hum plot that fails to hit either heartstrings or funnybones. The characters themselves are strong, a well-developed mix of distinct shapes and colorful personalities that would go on to blossom in later installments, but here they're mere saplings at the mercy of a flat, played-out storyline. Even the animation has aged poorly, playing more like a student's demo reel than a multi-million dollar major studio production. It's tempting to give that a pass, given how far technology has come in the ten years since, but Pixar had already released Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo and The Incredibles by this time, and those all hold up wonderfully. An also-ran in all respects, it's got missed potential by the boatloads, but not much more.

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FilmBuff1994
2005/05/30

Madagascar is a great movie with a very enjoyable storyline with a talented and very energetic voice cast topped off with beautiful and colourful animation.The movie is filled with very funny scenes,plenty for both younger and older audiences to enjoy,also the characters are very lovable.While I do like the four main characters,they aren't the movies highlights, that is without a doubt King Julien,voiced brilliantly by Sacha Baron Cohen,and of course the penguins,almost everything these characters say is gold.Madagascar is a very enjoyable movie that I would recommend for the whole family to enjoy.After Marty the zebra (voiced by Chris Rock) escapes from the New York Zoo,himself and his four best friends,Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller),Gloria the Hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) and Melvin the Giraffe (David Schwimmer) end up stranded on the island of Madagascar.

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