Official Synopsis
Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Gloria the Hippo, and Melman the Giraffe are still fighting to get home to their beloved Big Apple and of course, King Julien, Maurice and the Penguins are all along for the comedic adventure. Their journey takes them through Europe where they find the perfect cover: a traveling circus, which they reinvent – Madagascar style.
The third film is funny, and more importantly the kids in the household are going to love it (especially the rainbow wig that comes with the release). The comedy adventure in the third Madagascar film is fast and furious, and doesn’t really offer an apology for its inconsistencies. When I say ‘fast and furious’, I really mean warp 10.
The movie starts with the gang trying to get out of Africa and back to New York City, as they wait for the Penguins to come retrieve them. There are little to no connections or characters left (outside of the main ones) in Africa, so they truly are stranded. Turning from wish to wish fulfilled, the gang agrees to get out of Africa and go get the penguins. The next scene? They’re in Monte Carlo. How they got there is anyone’s guess, but it is assumed that they swam. Believable? No, but neither is talking animals. My point? The inconsistency here is that in each film prior, you get to see how the gang gets to the places end up to begin the stories. A ship brings them to Madagascar in the original, a destroyed plane takes them to Africa in the second, and this one just PUTS them in Monte Carlo. It seems a bit cheap in terms of storytelling, but it’s the only flaw in the story.
From that point on the story gets back on track.
The gang finds the penguins, and trouble in one animal hunting psycho named Captain Chantel DuBois, then they find themselves back in a makeshift plane (the one the penguins rode to Monte Carlo) and they escape the clutches of the captain using it. The story is filled full of one-liners and very funny moments. Kids will adore this part of the movie. Of course, the plane crashes again and now they folks find themselves in France. From that point on, they find a traveling circus, which needs help badly, and buys the circus to not only help out, but to also get home.
Is the film better than the previous two? No. It contains a very mild amount of humor in it that is consistent throughout, but no ‘one’ character stands out like in the previous. For example, the second film was dominated by King Julien. I could give you nearly all of his lines and they were hilarious. The first film was dominated by Julien, but definitely had a lot of help from the original gang. This film seems to distribute the humor evenly and no one really steps forward to bring it. Is that bad? Well, it does make it bland in comparison with the others, but overall it gives a pretty even amount of humor that doesn’t disappoint. I just didn’t walk away from it spouting out one-liners like I have after the previous movies.
Overall, I think the movie is definitely just as good as the previous two films. I think that Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Cedric the Entertainer (is that his real name?), Andy Richter and Sacha Baron Cohen still bring their ‘A’ game. They’re quick witted, obviously dedicated to the characters, story and it shows.
I’m not sure if they’re going to make a fourth installment of Madagascar, but this one certainly fits as a finale that might be a good place to stop.
As for the Blu-ray portion of this film, it looks gorgeous! The animation stays consistent with the other films, though there is some touch-up with the circus scenes (better shadows, lighting, etc). The HD portion of the film is impressive. While it’s tough to get animation wrong when doing an HD transfer (as most animation is HD ready when it’s done), there have been some instances of it happening. For Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, it’s pretty as a peach. No graininess, no compression issues, just pure HD gorgeousness. What more could you ask for?
The film comes to you in 7.1 Dolby TrueHD, so you’ll be able to enjoy the Katy Perry music when it hits.
As for features, here’s what you’re looking at:
– Get Them to the Train
– The Animators’ Corner
– Trivia Track
– Ringmasters
– Madagascar 3 Roundtable
– High-Flying Deleted Scenes
– Filmmakers’ Commentary
– Mad Music Mash-Up
– Big Top Cast
All of this is very solid material, so you won’t be disappointed with the ‘extras’. The kids will definitely get a kick out of it.
