How entertaining? ★★★☆☆
Thought provoking? ★☆☆☆☆ 12 October 2012
This article is a review of MADAGASCAR 3: EUROPE’S MOST WANTED. |
“I never thought I’d say this on American soil, but the Rusky is right,” Skipper
Has the law of diminishing returns set in for the MADAGASCAR franchise? Dreamworks nailed the KUNG FU PANDA flicks. The jazzy animation and breezy tone of the original MADAGASCAR feels like a lifetime ago. Number 2, ESCAPE TO AFRICA, got it very wrong and right - mixing hilarity with sick-inducing sentimentality. At least with EUROPE’S MOST WANTED the grim mawkishness has been excised and replaced with set-pieces. Don’t worry; we are in more enjoyable territory than the downright dreadful SHREK THE THIRD. However, if these characters deserved three pictures, the filmmakers have not discovered the narratives to sustain them.
Has the law of diminishing returns set in for the MADAGASCAR franchise? Dreamworks nailed the KUNG FU PANDA flicks. The jazzy animation and breezy tone of the original MADAGASCAR feels like a lifetime ago. Number 2, ESCAPE TO AFRICA, got it very wrong and right - mixing hilarity with sick-inducing sentimentality. At least with EUROPE’S MOST WANTED the grim mawkishness has been excised and replaced with set-pieces. Don’t worry; we are in more enjoyable territory than the downright dreadful SHREK THE THIRD. However, if these characters deserved three pictures, the filmmakers have not discovered the narratives to sustain them.
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The return to New York Zoo is far from Greek mythology in its telling. Instead of being an odyssey, the three MADAGASCARs merge in the unfolding. The idea of a journey is merely the coat hanger to arrange gags and ‘emotions’ on. By the way, this may appear to be a damning review, but there is one major ace up the sleeves of team-MADAGASCAR: it is the wealth of comic players involved. They both save the series from ignominy, and make the wasting of their talents on stale arcs an extra shame.
Alex, Gloria, Marty and Melman are left behind by the penguins, who head to Monte Carlo for gambling shenanigans. They use the barely reconstructed plane. Our leads follow them when the dawned realisation occurs that they’re not coming back. How do Alex and the gang get to another continent? They just turn up in Europe with snorkelling masks. One of the laziest bits of storytelling I’ve seen in a long time. Causing havoc, the animals (including the penguins, chimpanzees and lemurs) come onto the radar of cruel animal officer, Captain Chantel DuBois (Frances McDormand). In a bid to escape they team up with circus animals fallen on hard times. These entertainers are conveniently taking their act to NY.
At the least the lacklustre proceedings are punctuated with funny jokes. The penguins, chimps, Mort and King Julian are the star attractions. This third outing is probably now for fans only.
“I want to kiss every inch of your huge head. It may take a few weeks,” King Julian to Sonya the bear