Even if you don't like cartoons, and wouldn't watch any movie produced without at least one curse word, exposed private part or grisly death scene, you have to like Madagascar.
The film is just sophisticated enough to keep supposedly more-mature adult minds entertained, and just sweet enough to justify showing it to your favorite sweet, impressionable youngster.
And it's got a whole zoo of animals, seemingly a must for family films. They're funny, savvy and street-smart captives of Central Park Zoo in the heart of New York. Though they've never ventured from their pens, they always seem to know the best trains to take out of Grand Central Station.
The cast is full of stars and the dialogue is right on target. Chris Rock makes a great zebra named Marty, often wondering if he is white with black stripes or black with white stripes. His wisecracks steal the show. He joins Melman (David Schwimmer), a hypochondriac giraffe, and Gloria (Jada Pinkett Smith), a relatively sexy hippo, in trying to tame their friend, Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller), during a hapless escape into The Wild. Andy Richter makes a cameo as Mort, a very cute baby lemur.
But what really makes this film stand out is its premise. Instead of being your typical love story filled with the sexual tension stemming from unrequited love, the movie is more about the dietary tension you experience when your best friend falls conveniently below you on the food chain.
Surely you've never turned to your best buddy and watched that person turn into an imaginary T-bone steak. Most likely, you've never gotten so hungry that you've wanted to take a bite out of your best buddy's tush.
But Alex finds himself doing just that to a sleeping Marty, and hilarity ensues quite often. The group also finds itself, ironically, protecting a small and idiosyncratic clan of lemurs from being eaten by viscious predators. Still, Alex's need to eat is never far from anyone's mind. The lion's quasi-sexual desire for food leads to some funny pop-culture allusions, including references to American Beauty, James Bond films and even Damon Knight's famous short story, "To Serve Man."
Madagascar is another winner from DreamWorks, almost up there with Shrek. A lot of the jokes in it are comic genius, and the story is pretty unique. It's probably going to be problematic for the youngest, most sensitive children, but for everyone else, it's great fun and a great tale of friendship.
Reach the writer at nicole.saidi@asu.edu.
