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| Still trying to find a way home, Alex (Ben Stiller) and company join a travel circus in style. |
Everything leading up to
this latest installment in the Madagascar franchise has been centered around
Marty the Zebra’s “Afro Circus,” a catchy circus song that stands in for the
series’ theme “I Like to Move It, Move It.” But is the Madagascar series once again relying too much on
a gimmicky song at the expense of delivering energetic storytelling?
Fortunately, that’s not the case. This time around in Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, Alex (Ben Stiller), Gloria (Jada Pinkett Smith), Marty (Chris Rock) and Melman (David Schwimmer) are still stranded in Africa with little chance of returning home to New York until they embark on a journey to Monte Carlo to find the fan-favorite Penguins who can fly them home. A few detours later and Monaco Animal Control on their tail (literally), the gang moves across Europe with a failing circus troupe, looking for their big break and golden ticket across the pond.
Madagasacar 3 is not only the
finest installment of its franchise, but also in the company amongst DreamWorks
Animation’s top films. The drastic overhaul that Madagascar has underwent in
the past three years from a lackluster Escape
2 Africa to Europe’s Most Wanted is remarkable despite the fact
that it’s still the same team committed to the franchise. Journeying through
the various locales in Europe not only widens the lens of the world of
Madagascar, but more so optimizes the animators’ ability to encompass vividly
detailed backdrops that were sorely missed the second film.
From Monte Carlo to the Colosseum and the Swiss Alps, the visual palette is never-endingly beautiful and there are those little moments where the environment functions as not just an expansive playground, but as a character itself. The environments aren’t the only visual improvement. Our stranded quartet is visually more appealing than ever. Obviously animation has improved in the three years since Escape 2 Africa, but for the first time in the franchise, the characters are easy on the eyes and shed that sense of being blocky or fake. Compared to the original character renderings from the 2005 film, these are state of the art evolutions and combined with the stellar backdrops, the two mesh seamlessly in offering audiences a wild ride.
Now it’s just not Alex, Gloria, Marty,
Melman, King Julien and the Penguins who take center stage this time around.
While in hiding with the circus troupe, they meet Bryan Cranston’s Vitaly (a
stereotypical Siberian tiger who dares to tackle impossible feats), Jessica
Chastain’s Gia (a jaguar who yearns to master American trapeze) and Martin
Short’s Stefano (an comic Italian sea lion whose act is being shot out of a
cannon). With all these new characters and diversions in place, a few of the
core characters are sacrificed. Gloria and Melman are pushed off to the side to
make room for this new slew of animals. Honestly, less Gloria and Melman is
actually better for the film. Even in the previous two installments, they were
always the weakest of the four protagonists. But what is the most surprising
move is how limited the penguins are utilized in this movie.
If you ask anyone about Madagascar, the first image that comes to mind is the Penguins, always the Penguins. Nickelodeon even produced a spin-off show called The Penguins of Madagascar. That’s not to say that the Penguins are completely absent from the movie, because they aren’t. They’re used sparingly, particularly stealing scene after scene in the escape from Monte Carlo sequence. At least no one can claim that the Penguins are simply a crutch of comedic relief, only brought in when the story begins to falter. Even without the Penguins involved heavily in the story, the other characters pick up the pieces and don’t bother dwelling on past mistakes.
There’s much that transpires in the 80
minutes of Europe’s Most
Wanted, that there’s little time to take a breather. Its consistently rapid
pace and abundance of action will keep the younger audiences happy and even the
adults who don’t have to worry about any ulterior or blatant messages. Madagascar 3 does hone in on the fact that family
isn’t found where you’re raised, but with people who care about you. It’s a
finely packaged message in the midst of the bright lights and fun times that’s
never buried too deep. And the villain from Animal Control, Captain Chantel
DuBois (Frances McDormand), is more comedic than lethal. She’s your typical
cartoony villain, overtly persistent at capturing the gang, going as far as
literally acting like a tracker hound. McDormand works her French accent with
ease, but it’s all in good fun even though her nonstop methods are reminiscent
of Schwarzenegger’s Terminator.
The action typically escalates to an appropriate cartoonish level with its consequences never matching what would actually happen in reality. And that’s perfectly acceptable as Madagascar allows its audience to forget everything we know about logic and reality and enter the mindset of a child. Even the most unbelievable recurring theme in the film is treated with a suspension of disbelief, because this particular character’s arc emerges as touching and dimensional without the thought of the end result being impossible. As the first in the series shot in 3D, many of the scenes are constructed for blatant pop-out moments. Normally, it’s bothersome and irritating that directors succumb to this temptation, but here the obviousness is masked by the desire to craft a visual spectacle.
Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted is surprisingly well done, ultimately succeeding in creating a gratifying well-rounded tale for all ages combined with bringing together old friends with new friends in a way that never feels bloated from the typical expansion of a sequel. Very few sequels manage to keep in check the fact that too much crammed into the last go-around hardly works. Sure as audiences we travel from action set piece to action set piece across Europe at lightning speed, but since there was actually care infused into overall narrative, by the end, the experience is not only a memorable one, but powerful too.
GRADE: A- (9/10)
This review is also available on
Blu-Ray.com
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