Madagascar2 : Escape to Africa

Rating : 7/10
Running Time : 89 Minutes
Release Date : 7th Nov 2008
Director : Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath; Writer : Etan Cohen
Starring : Ben Stiller, Alec Baldwin, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith
The penguins provided some of the best moments in this one for me. Right from the start, beginning with their assault on the Dreamworks logo, their ‘Damn you, Darwin’, when they have to cajole monkeys to help them because of their opposable thumbs, the whole carjacking sequence and even the ‘We have some good news and bad news – the good news is that we’ll be landing soon. The bad news is we’ll be crash landing.’, they are simply hilarious.



Else, we have all the usual crazy characters in a plot which doesn’t really matter. Zuba’s son, Alex the lion, goes to New York and then returns with the zebra (Marty), giraffe (Melman) and hippo (Gloria) where, even though he re-unites with his parents, he finds it difficult to adjust to life in the non-concrete jungle, especially with Makunga, who wants to be the alpha lion in Zuba’s place, playing the villain. On top, we have the regulars, including the whacky King Julien, the monkeys, the penguins and some new ones, including the feisty Nana, the tough old lady from New York, who becomes the scourge of the lions.


Most memorable moments for me included the fight between Nana and Alex, the first time Moto Moto (a giant hippo) walks up to Gloria and delivers the classic ‘I’m Moto Moto, you like it so much, you say it twice’. King Julien, with his ‘first class travel’, the interaction between Gloria and Melman and finally the moment when Alex presents a handbag to the slightly effeminate Makunga, who’s reaction is ‘ooh, wow, a shoulder strap ! Does it adjust ?’

Its not that long, but it feels even shorter. Another proof of ‘Laughter is the Best Medicine’ philosophy…We can apparently expect a third in the series in 2011 and it can’t come soon enough…