DreamWorks Animation has had more than their fair share of box office hits this decade. After a string of films making less than expected, 2001's Shrek (the company's second CG feature) grossed an impressive $267 million domestically alone.
Since then, only one of the studio's CG features (2006's Flushed Away) has failed to break the $100 million mark stateside. When DreamWorks' Madagascar finished with $193 M in 2005, a sequel seemed inevitable. Such expectations were met in November of 2008 with the arrival of Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.
After a prologue that mixes new material with recaps of the original, the movie starts with our four leads -- Alex the lion (voiced by Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer), and Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) -- heading on a refurbished plane back home to New York.
Unfortunately, the penguin crew that restored the rusty aircraft did a somewhat haphazard job,
resulting in a crash on the African savannah. While the protagonists wait for the plane to be repaired, they meet other animals of their own kind.
Alex discovers that his father Zuba (Bernie Mac) is king of the pride. Rejoining the pride is not so easy for Alex, though, as the scheming Makunga (Alec Baldwin) reminds Zuba that all lions must win a rite of passage match or else be banished. This causes just the father-son rift Makunga needs to steal the throne, as Zuba can't accept the fact that his spawn is a performing lion, not a fighting one.
Meanwhile, Marty has an identity crisis upon noticing every other zebra in Africa looks, sounds, and acts like him, even learning his special performance tricks. Melman has been hired as a witch doctor, but when he catches a fatal disease that has affected previous applicants, he begins to sort out his priorities. Gloria faces problems of her own when the hippo she was falling for, Moto Moto (will.i.am), appreciates her for nothing more than her sex appeal.
With the exception of some hand-drawn features, DreamWorks' animated output has largely been comedic in nature. The same holds true for Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. Nary a minute goes by without a gag of some sort. Even more serious moments are book-ended with jokes.
The question, of course, is whether or not a feature with such one-sided intentions is able to meet its goal. The answer, in general, is yes. This second Madagascar outing amuses more than the first one did, though it's not necessarily as hilarious as Pixar's efforts.
In terms of comedic style, the film sits in the middle of the DreamWorks scale. It neither sinks to the abysmal lows of Shark Tale (which was so narrow-minded that its pop culture references only spanned what was "fresh" in audience minds), nor does it rise to the timeless and gentler tone of Kung Fu Panda. At least the references on board here span all sorts of decades and genres, from Planet of the Apes to Barry Manilow. Most of these inspire smiles not outright laughs, but that's more than most animated features can claim.
The story in this installment feels more substantial than the obviously-padded original, but it still doesn't quite excel. The theme of acceptance has been done to death not just in animation, but in film, period. It's also been done better. As such, the filmmakers create a curious feat. On one hand, the characters are given more development than in the first one.
On the other, this feels less like an ensemble piece. There's no denying that Alex is essentially the main character of the franchise, but the supporting cast seemed like it was given more satisfying screen time the first time around. Perhaps the minimal screen time in that feature seemed more acceptable with less meat to chew on. Here, the subplots seem to underutilize Alex's fellow animals. It's all just as well, though, since the already present familiarity probably would've been less tolerable had the story been stretched out.
A staple of DreamWorks animation is casting celebrities to do voice work, regardless of whether or not they suit the roles. This often serves as a distraction since the viewer will keep thinking of the actor rather than the character.
The casting works surprisingly well here, however. Only Chris Rock and David Schwimmer (both of whom return from the original) call to mind their live-action selves.The rest of the cast blends in better than expected. In one of his last roles, Bernie Mac does a remarkable job of infusing warmth and dimensionality into Zub.
Frontman will.i.am is completely unrecognizable as the Barry White-sounding Moto Moto, and Alec Baldwin has fun chewing up the scenery in his limited role. The rest of the returning cast also contributes solid vocal work, especially Sacha Baron Cohen as the offbeat lemur king Julien.
Overall, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is a satisfactory film. Its tale echoes those of superior features, and there are more characters than the filmmakers know how to handle, but it provides a bit more laughs and character development than its predecessor. As long as one goes in with expectations in check, this sequel is an enjoyable (if not particularly memorable) ride.
Following in the tradition of releases like Shrek 2 and Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa has been released in a 2-DVD pack alongside a standard single-disc edition. The second platter of this reviewed Move It, Move It Double Pack is The Penguins of Madagascar, which features two episodes of the upcoming Nickelodeon series along with some bonus material. Unlike Panda, however, the bonus disc's contents have also made their way to the concurrent Blu-ray.