Film Review--Madagascar

Madagascar
directed by Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath
written by Mark Burton, Billy Frolick, Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath
starring Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada-Pinkett Smith, David Schwimmer, Andy Richter, Cedric the Entertainer, Sacha Baron-Cohen, Christopher Knights, Chris Miller



Ah, another animated quasi-heroic adventure aimed squarely between the eyes of the unwitting wee ones. This is a mildly entertaining, occasionally amusing tale that seems to be about the importance of keeping a fine balance between one’s instincts and social obligations.

Alex the Lion (Stiller) has had bestowed upon him the title “The King of New York” by the tenders to the Central Park Zoo where he performs for goo-gawed humans. His friends are Marty the Zebra (Rock), Melman the Giraffe (Schwimmer) and Gloria the Hippo (Pinkett-Smith). Together they are a salty bunch until Marty hears the clarion call of adventure and gallops his striped ass out of there causing the others to hurl their oddly shaped bodies after him. What follows is a wacky adventure that eventually winds up in Madagascar where Julien the King of the Lemurs holds court.

Alex is the gruff, serious sort who just wants to be back in New York sucking down steaks. He hates the island and everything on it and is just counting the minutes until he is to be rescued. The rest are having a gay old time and turn the experience into a celebration. They are free and Alex is terrified of being a castaway in a foreign place that is unpredictable and possibly unsafe. So, our friends discover great things on their journey and the film is all about the clash between democracy and the deification of the ruler. Julien is the head of a mass of lemurs who worship him as if he were a god. They are incapable of ruling themselves. The larger animals represent an openness and a general acceptance of difference which the lemur cult does not possess.

We have a lion and a hippo who should by all rights be eating the zebra and the giraffe yet queerly they are all friends. Their natural instincts have been diluted so much by captivity that they do not even know how they are supposed to behave in the wild. The law of nature where the strong prey on the weak is lost to them. They are civilized beasts and thereby interested only in diplomacy. That is until Alex discovers his true nature due to hunger and nearly makes the zebra his lunch. It’s the only flash of truth in the whole film as we are supposed to accept that these four disparate animals could ever avoid taking each other out if the opportunity struck although the giraffe wouldn’t stand a chance in direct combat.

Alex is a showman. He’s a song and dance lion who wows the crowds with his wacky antics. He is completely divorced from his homeland and who his family was. Perhaps this is a commentary on Americans who have become so entrenched in the soil of this country that they are unaware of their true origins and hardly seem to care. The comforts of city life, the ease of commerce, and the sanctity of the cash machine are enough to keep people in line and apart from their instinctual selves. These animals represent peace and harmony between all types of humans, animals, space beings, and plants and insects with no war and no ugly mess of territorial pissing getting in the way of good fawking times.

There is an energy to this film and it is rather crisply filmed and the music keeps everything in high gear. It is essentially a good dose of fun for the kiddies and there are enough pop references to keep adults tuned in. The animation is delicately rendered and a tremendous amount of emotion is displayed on the faces of the many animals featured here. The texture of the film is not radically different from some earlier forays into this field but the overall effect lends itself to a magnificent vibrancy that is contagious and worthy of praise.

The performances in this film all add a quirky togetherness to the complexity of the film. Ben Stiller captures all the nuances of his character and provides him with a genuine tenacity that comes through in various inflections. Jada Pinkett-Smith brings us a saucy bitch with a calming nature on the proceedings. Gloria is the cooing, comforting mother who supports the others emotionally and practically. The real standout here is Sacha Baron-Cohen who creates a deliriously oddball megalomaniac with a real penchant for drama. Baron-Cohen’s strange, implacable accent comes from somewhere deep inside his teeming, unfettered brain and it’s a delight through and through. David Schwimmer immediately resonates as the deeply affected, yet strangely charismatic giraffe with a penchant for sticking his head in the sand. Chris Rock is truly dynamic here and one is reminded of everything great he has ever done to cement his position as one of the truly significant comedians of this or any age.

Overall, this is quirky, enchanting, and certainly worthy of the little ones brief attention spans. It’s cleverly conceived, the plot is easy to follow but not cloying, and there is enough color and excitement to keep them occupied for many subsequent viewings.