This one’s for the kids
Wesley Colvin
Madagascar : Escape 2 Africa
Comedy/Animation
Rated PG
90 Minutes
Plot: New York zoo animals Alex the lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer), Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith), King Julien the meerkat (Sacha Baron Cohen) and Mort the mouse lemur (Andy Richtor) come up with another crazy plan to get back home but get caught up when they land in the middle of a battle for lion supremacy between the head of the pride, Zuba (Bernie Mack in one of his last performances), and jealous Makunga (Alec Baldwin).
Review:
Voice acting is definitely a unique talent. An actor has to convey a whole range of emotion without using the body.
In Escape 2 Africia, the better half of the performances come from the supporting cast consisting of mostly unnamed or unknown actors.
Great visual actors like Alec Baldwin, Chris Rock and Ben Stiller feel scripted while lesser known actors like Cedric the Entertainer, Andy Richtor and Sacha Baron Cohen feel more relaxed and improvised making their performances more fun to watch and easier to go along with.
King Julien is particularly funny to watch because Cohen’s bizarre performance. Baldwin didn’t add much of a threatening factor the bad guy Makunga, making it hard to take him seriously as the bad guy. This movie will be entertaining to kids and most adults, but it’s a pretty forgettable sequel and best as a rental.
Grade: C
