From June 9, 2013
Score: C
I'd heard that the third 'Madagascar' movie was the best of the three films. I'm here to say: No, it's not. I think it's better than the first movie, but not nearly as good as 'Madagascar 2'. I really liked that one.
'Madagascar 3' takes a LONG time to get going. It's pretty boring for about the first half hour and has few-to-no laughs during that time. Once the four main characters join the circus things pick up and the movie becomes enjoyable to watch.
When they put on their Cirque du Soleil circus show, it's pretty cool. That scene is a surreal one involving all of the characters flying around as well as the song "Firework" by Katy Perry. I also liked the two shots when the monkey is shooting at Capt. DuBois. They're slow-mo shots from artsy angles.
I really liked the character of Stefano, the seal with the Italian accent. His design looks good and he's sweet and funny. I sort of like the character less once I found that it was Martin Short that voiced him, but that's ok in the end. I also liked Frances McDormand as the character Capt. DuBois, the animal control officer, but I feel like I've seen her like before.
Then there's the bad: Is it just me or is all kids' entertainment nowadays extremely assaulting? The cuts are too quick. Things are too loud. The characters talk too fast. God, I must be getting too old for this shit. I also felt that the animation--like most animation from Dreamworks--is too springy and feels too weightless, like they're all digital creations with no mass... er, wait a minute. That's what they are. It's the animators' job to animate them in such a way that we, the audience, forget that they're digital creations. I mean, Dreamworks finally got things right with 'Kung Fu Panda'. Why can't all their endevors be that good? Oh, well. Pixar will come out with 'Brave' in a few weeks and we can go see some good animation. (Although, to pick on Pixar for a second: I feel that their recent movies have way too much overacting, but that's a whole other issue)
