A Pinoy Blog About Nothing

If you’re wary of seeing Star Wars Episode III because of all the hype surrounding its release or just waiting for the new Adam Sandler movie, the remake of the Longest Yard to appear on cable, then you might want to consider checking out the animated feature Madagascar.

Made by the same people behind Shrek and Shark Tales it fortunately owes more to the former than the latter. Madagascar reminded me of old Muppet adventures, back when Jim Henson was alive and imbued his wit and wacky sense of humor to the whole production (ref. early Sesame Street and the Muppet Show). While it’s easy to see the visuals and the story were meant for kids, there is plenty of that subversive humor meant for adults as well.

The remainder of the write-up will contain spoilers.

When Marty the Zebra (voice by Chris Rock) decides to run away to the Wilds, his New York City Zoo-bound friends Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller), Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer) and Gloria the Hippo (Jada Pinkett-Smith) go after him. Unfortunately, this misadventure lead to a series of events which would find the friends in the Wild. Is it really possible for a carnivore like a lion to be friends with a giraffe, a zebra, and a hippo? Well, this is an animated movie and yes do they address that particular issue in the movie.

Aside from the superb animation in which Dreamworks decidedly steered clear of that computer-sheen *cough* Pixar *cough* look, the voice acting were awesome. The supporting cast might have stolen this from the main players. Sacha Baron Cohen, aka Ali G, as mad King Julian of the Lemur was just hilarious. You don’t have to know who Sacha Baron Cohen is to enjoy his performance but knowing who’s behind the voice added more to the enjoyment of the scenes whenever he appeared.

The penguins were particularly demented and effectively loveable. In the tradition of Brad Bird doing the voice of Edna Mode in the Incredibles, Madagascar director Tom McGrath did the voice of Skipper, the leader of the scene-stealing penguins. Not since Burgess Meredith have penguins been portrayed as malevolent, scheming birds. There was also that gratuitous, made-for-merchandising character called Mort the Lemur (voiced by Andy Richter) which seemed like it had nothing to do except to look cute.

One scene I particularly enjoyed was when Alex decided to make a signal fire for any passing ships in the shape of the Statue of Liberty. Of course it burns down and the shot suddenly imitates that of the last scene of the original Planet of the Apes. Of course being a kid-friendly movie, Alex delivers a sanitized version of Charleston Heston’s famous lines. It may not be very funny but it was totally unexpected that made for a good joke. Of course, only the adults were laughing in the theater when that scene came up.

If they do well in the box-office against the Sith and Sandler in this holiday weekend, expect a sequel from Dreamworks. I just hope they focus more on the penguins and the monkeys. Monkeys are always funny.