Review: Madagascar (1 Viewer)

[Chris]

There are different perspectives on animated films in the way I judge them. When I watch something like "Heffalump Movie" I generally provide it a pass because I know all the whimsy etc. still appeals to my 4 year old, and so I can judge it differently then say "Finding Nemo", where a universal storyline and strong performances make it stand out.

Madagascar, on the other hand, is a film which just can't seem to figure out where it's going. In the first fifteen minutes, we're hit with the base characters and short synopsis, but the characters themselves seem to be so pigeon-holed that the introduction is virtually all you need to understand the way they will behave for the entirety of the film.

While there are some gags, none of them are particularly funny. A few are more offensive then funny, seemingly aimed at older children, but unlike say, Shrek, I don't think the older children will find the rest of the movie entertaining enough to stick around.

This is time that just crawls by as we jump from scene to scene to scene without a lot of purpose.

I had expected this to be "plain" and of course, we all get somewhat spoiled by releases by Pixar.. but it's not just "plain" or "generic" it's actually just.. dull. The jokes take themselves to seriously, the production values are a mixed bag, and when it misses, it misses bigtime.

This is really the first major dissapointment of the year in the sense that I had thought this could be a "decent" film, and it's just not...

:star: 1/2 : :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:

 

[Steve...O]

Chris, you are too kind in your review

My wife and I both looked at each other after watching this yesterday and agreed that it was the worst animated feature we recall seeing. El Stinko all the way.

As you alluded to I would not feel comfortable taking small children to this. Some of the "humor" is risque and definitely not appropriate for small children. Big kids like me just find it offensive and annoying.



Steve

 

[Adam_S]

Madagascar - :star::star::star:
35mm
05/28/2005

Madagascar is a cut above Robots and a big part of it is that they actually had fun animating this flimsy non-story rather than artificially forcing plot/love interest/hero fetish on a magnificently rubber world. On the other hand, the lack of an interesting story (but a fascinating concept milked for all it's worth) is what holds this back from Shrek heights. Because the concept is so limited, the film is paced very unevenly and the gags and laughs are all over the place. I was the only person laughing when the first two bars of Vangelis came up and the rest of the audience joined in when it was apparent it was an over-the-top parody meant to inspire laughter. Because this is a high-concept film with nothing to supply characterization or the main characters to hold our attention, every single one of hte supporting characters never fails to steal every scene they are in. In fact the only truly painful moments in the film come when the four lead characters are alone. However the film reaches sublime heights in its far far too brief dream and drug sequences--but folks, Dumbo this Ain't.

 

[Billy C.]

Wow - not a very popular movie. Remember back in the day when the forum stood still for a new Dreamworks release?

I took my kids to see it on Memorial Day since it was raining hard and there was nothing else to do. Overall - I'd say it was better than staring at the rain but it wasn't great. Very formulaic - I just felt that I'd seen it all before.