Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2012) [Blu-ray]
Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family

Your favorite characters are back, in their most hilarious adventure yet! Alex, Marty, Melman and Gloria find themselves on-the-run through Europe in this wildly entertaining and outrageous comedic adventure that film critics are calling "charming and very funny!" (Bill Zwecker, Chicago Sun Times). With the fame-loving King Julien and the take-charge Penguins along for the ride, the whole crew joins the circus to escape Captain Dubois of Animal Control. Full of high-flying action and colorful new characters, it's a MAD extravaganza everyone will love. Get ready to wig out!

Storyline: Alex, Marty, Gloria and Melman are still trying to get back to the Big Apple and their beloved Central Park zoo, but first they need to find the penguins. When they travel to Monte Carlo, they attract the attention of Animal Control after gate crashing a party and are joined by the penguins, King Julian and Co., and the monkeys. How do a lion, zebra, hippo, giraffe, four penguins, two monkeys, three lemurs travel through Europe without attracting attention and get back to New York? They join a traveling circus. Their attempts to get back to New York are consistently hampered by the Captain of Animal Control who wants to make Alex part of her collection. Once they make it back to New York Marty, Alex, Gloria and Melman realize that they want to be part of the traveling circus. Written by Anonymous

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman on October 10, 2012 -- Fur power! --- There's something fundamentally fun about the Madagascar series; cute and cuddly talking animals are a staple of children's entertainment and few animated movie series does them better (Ice Age and Kung Fu Panda amongst them). Madagascar finds that happy animated medium in which structural flaws, somewhat unimaginative characters, and less-than-invigorating plots melt away when then colorful and cuddly animals appear on-screen and commence with their playfully ridiculous antics and embark on their various adventures. Still, the Madagascar series isn't even DreamWorks' best -- it lacks the superb characters of Shrek, the raw adventure of How to Train Your Dragon, the novelty of Megamind, and the gut-busting humor and action combination of Kung Fu Panda. In fact, it's arguably DreamWorks' least-memorable animated series, but that doesn't make it any less a charmer, no less delightful, and certainly no less profitable. And now at three movies, it's more than a franchise, it's a staple of animation. Audiences expect new adventures with Alex, Marty, Melman, and Gloria to roll into theaters every few years. It's a hot commodity and perhaps never has it been better than it is under the big top of Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, a zany, fast-paced, and tender when necessary new picture that introduces a host of new characters and a brightly colored wig that's destined to become the defining symbol of New York's most famous foursome of digital animals.

Alex (voiced by Ben Stiller), Marty (voiced by Chris Rock), Melman (voiced by David Schwimmer), and Gloria (voiced by Jada Pinkett Smith) are still in Africa, and they still long to return to New York City. In fact, Alex is suffering from recurring nightmares about growing old in Africa rather than back in the comforts of his old home. The foursome agrees to travel to Monte Carlo, home of high stakes gambling and great wealth, to retrieve their penguin friends and return to New York as a group. The plan to surreptitiously rescue their friends goes horribly awry, and the gang is forced to flee from a zealous animal control officer, Captain Chantel DuBois (voiced by Frances McDormand). They continue to evade the law but find themselves in one sticky situation after another. Finally, they stumble upon a traveling circus, which includes a performing tiger low on self-confidence by the name of Vitality (voiced by Bryan Cranston). Alex and the gang falsify their credentials and pass themselves off as fellow circus performers to find reprieve and escape with the act and, just maybe, a ticket back to America. Will their falsehoods come back to haunt them, leading to a breakup with their new friends or, worse, an inescapable run-in with Captain DuBois?

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted builds its narrative and moves through its adventures with an overt zaniness that only a movie with this caliber of characters and voice actors could pull off. The movie is patently absurd but a whole lot of fun nonetheless. It follows animated movie routine -- there's a big idea, huge expectations, a dramatic fall-off, and a high-flying recovery just in time for the end -- but does so with zeal. The movie charms with its heart, energetic characters, and sense of grand adventure, even when some of the humor falls flat, not necessarily because it's unfunny but because it's not original funny. The movie doesn't introduce much that hasn't been seen before, in terms of its structure, humor, animation, and new characters. There are no great character moments aside from Marty's "Afro Circus" routine, and even the new assortment of characters don't find much novelty, including a circus tiger who offers more than a passing resemblance to Kung Fu Panda's Tigress. But the movie rightly doesn't strive for cinema novelty. Its sole purpose is to entertain, and entertain it does and in fairly big fashion at that. It'll dazzle the youngest of audiences, please those who grew up on the first and second Madagascar films, and even tickle the fancy of adults who will appreciate some of the finer plot touches that might go over the head of viewers caught up in the colors and fast motion.

Ultimately, it's those bright lights, brilliant colors, and dazzling displays of cutting-edge computer animation that define the movie above all else. Even as Madagascar 3 trudges through a terribly familiar structure, it impresses with complex action scenes (the big chase near the beginning would pass for the climax of most any other animated film), a few creative ideas (a banana-flinging machine gun), and the general tomfoolery and tender moments that are animated film staples and recycled motifs. The movie is very well put together, technically, and even if the animation isn't sometimes quite as complex as the newer films of its kind -- lines are a bit angular and hair/fur doesn't always have that lifelike flow to it -- the film impresses with astonishing attention to detail, creating a robust 3D environment that's been brilliantly conceived, richly detailed, and flawlessly animated. Better, the voice acting is some of the best in the business. Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, and Jada Pinkett Smith fall right back into character and bring their animals to life with in a way that even the finest animation cannot yet achieve. Bryan Cranston lends gravitas to his Vitaly character and shows an emotional range that helps construct the best of the new characters and provide some much-needed depth to the movie and a character roster that's fun but otherwise a little on the shallow side, particularly the "couldn't be more generic if they tried" villainess whom even the talented Frances McDormand cannot save.

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted satisfies at every turn with great animation, vibrant colors, and plenty of quirks. It's packed with complex and fast-paced action that, along with the colors and animation, helps to cover for what is a rather routine plot with standard plot devices and largely unimaginative humor. Still, the bottom line is that the movie works as advertised. It's a dazzling and sometimes dizzying high-flying display of family-friendly entertainment that doesn't wear thin even where it's not very thick. The movie finds a perfect middle ground for an animated series now in its third go-round, offering up a new adventure, a few new faces, and distinguishing itself just enough to keep audiences entertained. It's not the finest animated film of the year and not even one of DreamWorks' best, but Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted should please audiences with modest expectations. DreamWorks' Blu-ray 3D release of Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted features fantastic 3D video, great lossless audio, and a very nice array of extra content. Recommended.

[CSW] -2.5- A really fun kids movie with great music and a joy to watch, if you are a kid. The story stretched all credibility even for this type of movie, but it is just what you might expect from a kids movie. It is not designed to be as entertaining for adults as it is for kids. The witty banter and colorful antics didn't have any hidden adult humor. So if you can just imagine yourself as being a kid of 6 to 8 then you will be entertained but not blown away. I rented the 2D version to see if I was interested in buying the 3D version but decided not to get it (the 3D is rated at 9/10).
[V5.0-A5.0] MPEG-4 AVC - D-Box 9.0/10 - Good but muted for the younger PG audience.

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