It might have taken three directors to make the third installment in the “Madagascar” franchise, but the compound collaboration has resulted in one very impressive animated comedy. Noah Baumbach’s screenwriting contributions alongside franchise-regular co-writer/director Eric Darnell are in evidence.
Audience chuckles and belly laughs come at regular intervals. The level of visual and narrative sophistication on display is astonishing. There are no fart jokes to distract from the fun-loving intention of animal characters that have become like family members to at least a couple of generations of young moviegoers. The filmmakers pull off a neat ploy of continuously raising the stakes for audience expectations before paying off on gently implied promises with breathtaking virtuosic sequences. An eye-popping chase scene over the rooftops of Monte Carlo’s unmistakable skyline really hits the mark.
A surrealistic black-and-white dream sequence opens the film as a tip-off to adult spectators that the movie will tickle their advanced intellects. It goes without saying that returning voice-actors Ben Stiller (as Alex the lion), Chris Rock (as Marty the zebra), Jada Pinkett Smith (as Gloria the hippo), and David Schwimmer (as Melman the giraffe), all give knockout vocal performances. A clever editorial choice to places a circus bear named Sonya with the mute trait of an actual bear. Sonya’s inability to talk hardly stops Cedric the Entertainer’s aye-aye Maurice from falling for her hairy charms. Maurice has fetish.
Our familiar animal buddies are trying to leave Madagascar and return to their home at the New York City zoo. A layover in Monte Carlo brings them to the attention of Capitaine Chantel DuBois (amazingly voiced in a biting French accent by Frances McDormand). DuBois is “part bloodhound and part Cruella DeVil — with a little Edith Piaf thrown in for good measure.” She wants the severed heads of Alex, Marty, Gloria, and Melman, hanging on her trophy wall. Our motely animal crew finds refuge in the company of a train-travelling circus with its own host of kooky animal personalities. Jessica Chastain’s slinky jaguar Gia holds some romantic promise for Alex if he can just figure out how to come up with a circus act impressive enough to gain the sponsorship of a London promoter to allow for a transatlantic voyage to the island of Manhattan.
Rated PG. 99 mins. (A) (Five Stars – out of five/no halves)
