Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted

         Every studio is always looking for that next great franchise. It is built in money for them, and if it is done right people will always go to what they know. Animated movies are perfect franchises, so if the first one is a big hit, you can expect as many you will pay to see. In 2005 we met four zoo animals who escape and make their way to Madagascar. After a trip to Africa in 2008, we catch up with our friends once again trying to get back home.

             This time around we find Alex (Ben Stiller), Marty (Chris Rock), Melman (David Schwimmer) and Gloria (Jada Pinkett Smith) in Africa after they found that they can still be wild. The penguins have gone off to Monte Carlo to get rich and Alex and everyone else must find them in order to get back to New York. Once in Monte Carlo the crew gets the attention of animal control led by Captain Chantel DuBois (Frances McDormand), a woman who does not love animals. With the help of the penguins everyone escapes and hides with a traveling Circus, which just might be their ticket back home. Alex and the gang help reinvent the Circus, now all they have to do is avoid Captain DuBois and animal control.

       The great thing about animated movies now, is that they are made for both adults and kids. Studios understand that parents with bring their kids, but if they enjoy it as well, they don’t mind coming back again. Madagascar 3 is nothing special, but at the same time it doesn’t stray from the formula that has worked so well the first two times. The old saying “If it isn’t broke, then why fix it?” fits perfect with this franchise. The third film, like the first two was co-written by Eric Darnell, with some help on this one by Noah Baumbach ,(yes that Noah Baumbach). The story remains the same, four zoo animals out in the wild trying just to get back home. The penguins once again provide the most laughs, with their ever seeming being one step ahead of everyone else. Madagascar is easy to enjoy and have fun watching, but I will say I think we might be running out of ‘all they want to do is get home’ stories. There are parts of this one that drag and are not that funny, but still for the most part it is watchable. So parents just do what your kids are going to want you to do this weekend and take them to see Madagascar 3, you will enjoy it, and they will enjoy it. The one thing though at the end I bet you won’t be saying is “I can’t wait till the next one”, but trust me there will be one.

 Brian Taylor