Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Review

After seeing and loving Madagascar back in 2005, I was very excited when I heard they were coming out with a sequel!  I did not want to wait to see it, so I made it a point to schedule a date with my friends in advance so we could see it in the theater.  It was definitely worth it, and the only bad thing about the movie was the annoying adult behind us who kept talking!  Geez!

If you haven't seen Madagascar yet, go read that review and see it first.  If you have seen it, continue reading.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa starts out where the last movie left off.  The whole gang including Alex the lion, Marty the zebra, Gloria the hippo and Melman the giraffe are living it up in Madagascar.  The penguins have finally finished their work on the plane and are ready to take the crew back home to New York.  King Julien, the lemur, planes to go with them for the trip with his trusty adviser.  The rigged up plane slingshots off into the air and seems to be flying well, until they run out of gas.  The gang crash lands into Africa where many stories unfold!  Africa is full of wildlife of all flavors, leading these zoo animals to finally mingle with some of their own.

Here's a quick preview (no spoilers): Alex starts to remember being born in Africa; Gloria looks for love among the hippos; Marty is somewhat disappointed that the zebras are all exactly like him; and Melman might be the savor the giraffes needed.

The best part about this sequel is that all the original voices came back!  Nothing bugs me more than when an animated movie does a sequel and has all second rate actors in the parts.  If you can't get the original voices, then don't do the sequel!  Ben Stiller (Alex), Chris Rock (Marty), Jada Pinkett Smith (Gloria) and David Schwimmer (Melman) all return to lend their great voices to the film.  I liked that this movie allowed each character to develop and handle something of their own.  As I summarized above, each character has something to deal with in this movie which led to quite a few storylines throughout.

In addition, Sacha Baron Cohen and Cedric the Entertainer return as the hilarious lemurs.  This time around the lemurs and the penquins both get a lot more screen time.  The lemurs don't really have a story as they are just there for the humor, but the penquins are setting out to rebuild the plane in their own unique way which definitely makes you crack up!!

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa had all the kids AND adults laughing out loud throughout the whole movie.  The writers really know how to get with the modern times as many of their jokes wouldn't have worked 10 years ago, but they work great now.  The references made throughout the movie probably go over some of the kids heads, but the adults will get them and laugh for sure.  There is plenty of humor for kids too as I didn't see a single kid NOT laughing in the packed theater. 

This isn't a pure comedy, however, as there are lessons to be learned just like the first movie.  With all the different characters trying out their own paths, you can guess that there are plenty of new lessons in this movie that didn't come out in the first one.  Who said learning can't be entertaining? 

Now that I've seen both, I can't wait to own them!  I never did get the first on DVD, and then I heard there would be a second so I figured I'd wait and buy the set.  This is one set I will definitely be looking for as soon as it comes to DVD.  Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is a laugh a minute and you'd hardly believe this was a kids movie.  Some of my friends said they thought it was better than the first, but I'd say both were equally great.  Enjoy!!