tomgillespie2002 A distinct lack of charm and originality have never been criticisms to inspire a studio to scrap a billion dollar franchise in favour of doing something a little more worthwhile, so Alex the lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer) and Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) return four years after their detour to Africa for another continent-spanning adventure, this time in Europe. This third entry into the hugely successful franchise packs so much colour, noise and incident into its 90 minute running time that the issues with the first two films - which are still present here - are reduced to a mere afterthought. To my utter surprise, Europe's Most Wanted is actually quite fun.Bored with Africa and longing for their home in New York, the anthropomorphic foursome take sail to Monte Carlo, where the penguins and primates have already made themselves at home. An incident in a casino leads to a vicious, game-hunting animal control worker named Chantal DuBois (Frances McDormand) chasing them across the city. As the authorities close in, the group make a break for it by hopping on a circus train, where they are met with resistance by a bitter, once-famous performer Vitaly the Siberian tiger (Bryan Cranston), but welcomed by the doe-eyed jaguar Gia (Jessica Chastain) and the optimistic sea lion Stefano (Martin Short). With the circus lacking inspiration with a tired act, Alex and co. come up with a plan to reinvigorate the show as they tour Europe, in the hope of making enough money to get them home.Making up for the blocky, uninspired animation of the previous movies, Madagascar 3 is a feast for the eyes, really coming to life during the physics-defying, laser-filled circus shows. The script is slightly more sophisticated, which is possibly due to the involvement of Noah Baumbach, yet the characters still need to compensate for the lack of actual jokes by shouting nonsense or falling over. As for the newcomers, they are infinitely more engaging than the stock long- lost family members from part 2, with Cranston clearly revelling in the chance to do a ridiculous Russian accent, and Chastain purring it up as the love interest. However, the biggest impression is left by a character who doesn't speak at all; a giant female bear (the growls are performed by Frank Welker) who forms a weird romantic relationship with King Julien (Sacha Baron Cohen) in the movie's most endearing transgressive move. The narrative is packed with problems, but the whole thing whizzes by far too fast to care.

david-sarkies Well, it seems as if they couldn't leave the movie with our four heroes happy back in the plains of Africa because, well, they are starting to get homesick. Actually, the Penguins and the Monkeys had already headed home, via Monte Carlo to do a bit of gambling with all of the gold and jewels that they dug up in the previous adventure, and our heroes are starting to scratch their heads, wondering when they are going to get back again. Well, as it turns out the Penguins have completely forgotten about them so our heroes decide to head off the Europe. There is only one problem – after causing a raucous at the casino they catch the attention of Dubois, a dangerous animal hunter who wants a lion's head on her wall, so they do what any self respecting animal does, and join the circus.This film seems to move away from what the original two were exploring, namely the animals returning to their natural habitat. Okay, the animals don't actually live in Madagascar, but that was because they fell overboard and landed up there. However, we now return to civilisation (for want of a better word, though maybe I should say 'industrialised world') and have to learn how to perform in a circus. Okay, there is the problem that carnies (that is circus performers) tend to stick together and not particularly like strangers, but the Monkeys, taking on the disguise of the King of Versaille (which I have to admit is a pretty awesome disguise), buy the circus as a way to get onto the train.The problem is that the circus is, well, run down, particularly since one of the star performers ended up failing in one of his acts and now spends his time moping in the corner. In the end, as can be expected from a Hollywood movie, everything turns out for the best, though the whole adage of there being no place like home is a bit of a misnomer because, as our heroes discover, once you leave home then all of a sudden home is no longer what you could consider home. In fact once you leave home then in reality you can never actually go back home again.I have to admit that I didn't like this film as much as the second one in the franchise, but maybe because the whole joining the circus pretty much introduced a whole heap of new characters that I found quite difficult to start relating too. It wasn't as if they were bad, or annoying, it was just that they were new and, okay, somewhat annoying. I guess the whole circus thing sort of annoyed me as well. Okay, it did have a plot, and it did end reasonably well, though I guess the other thing was that Dubois also started to get under my skin by the end of the film. Sure, it is called Europe's Most Wanted, and by the end having Dubois in the film was necessary, but I still didn't particularly like her. The film was okay, but nowhere near as good as the second in the series.

Luke Scamell Madagascar 3: Europe's Most WantedRating: 3A Disappointing EndAfter the high of Madagascar 2, improving on the okay movie that was Madagascar, I came to Madagascar 3 hoping that the trend would continue and it would be even better than the second. I was sadly disappointed: it was dumb, dull and dreadful.As is to be expected, the third main installment in the Madagascar series sees Alex the lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith), Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer) and their friends try to find their way back to New York. This time, they are pursued by a relentless French Pest Control Officer and stow away on an animal circus train, becoming owners of said circus.In contrast to the rest of the movie, the animation was excellent. It was visually appealing, pretty and colourful and was an improvement on the earlier entries in the series. Shame there wasn't a movie to go with it.The plot is by far the worst part of the film, and if it had been up to a decent standard, the other problems wouldn't have seemed so bad. Suspension of disbelief is to be expected in films, but this goes so far beyond this as t become utterly ridiculous and render the film pointless. Characters literally do the impossible in a huge way and on a frequent basis and it's lazy. In many ways, the film is all over the place and makes no sense. On other occasions, chunks of the plot are resolved far too easily and so become (I've said it before) pointless. In terms of comedy, it is almost non-existent. I remember about three occasions it made me smile and many jokes seem very forced.Apart from Alex, the main characters from the previous film are shunted to the back to get even less development than Alex and the new characters that replace them. This is sad because they are as much a part of this series: I would have loved the penguins, the lemurs and even the chimps to get more screen time and lines. In fact, I don't even remember if the chimps got any dialogue at all and King Julien seems to be constantly drunk or high. Furthermore, the main quartet suddenly pick up new talents out of nowhere just to fit the plot. In my opinion, bringing in lot's of new characters is a sign of laziness and for the most part the new characters and predictable and dull. I say for the most part, I kind of like Vitaly, although I don't know if it's just his accent I like. The villain is unoriginal, unrealistic and dull.Another thing that bugged me was the constant use of songs, some which I didn't even feel fitted the scene. In the previous films, they were strategically placed but here they are everywhere and they lose all meaning because of it. And don't even get me started on that horrible "Afro Circus" song - no, don't play it at the end like you're proud of it! It's sad for me because the original film was quite a big part of my childhood. My siblings and I even had cuddly toy versions of the main characters, so it pains me to see the studio stoop to such levels of laziness and money grabbing it. A five year old might enjoy how colourful it is but there is nothing else to enjoy in this disappointing end. Now, I'm going to create fake accounts and dislike the "Afro Circus" YouTube video.

Catherina The movie starts out as always, with Alex and the gang stuck and wishing to go to another place (It may it be adventurous as in the first movie or just a return to home like in the second).Warning: the following contains spoilers!The penguins left Alex, Marty, Melman and Gloria in Africa to go to Monte Carlo to gamble and win big. The naive Alex believes that they will come back and suddenly realizes what Marty, Gloria and Melman had realized a long time ago – the penguins and monkeys are not returning. Their big idea is to go to Monte Carlo and find the penguins to make them apologize for deserting them. With hilarious scenes that even the most serious adult couldn't help laughing to, the animals meet up with the penguins only to find them fleeing from French Captain Chantel Dubois, who happens to be a relentlessly persistent animal hunter. Cornered by the captain, the animals board a circus train in hopes of once returning back home in New York. Aboard the train, we meet the Russian tiger Vitaly (voiced amazingly by Bryan Cranston), a former circus star who was scarred forever- literally. Alex falls in love with Gia, an aspiring acrobatic, Marty meets a shy and not so bright friend seal called Stefano (brilliantly voiced by Martin Short), and Gloria and Melman become more romantically involved.The movie was actually very captivating, with little innuendos that only older kids and adults would understand. Sure, the movie does overplay the "afro-circus" bit we've all seen from the commercial, but nonetheless, it was entertaining. And what would be a Madagascar movie without "I Like To Move It!"The movie does seem to be more of an 8+ movie, and I, as well as any parent there, was surprised when Vitaly said, "Bolshevik," clearly thinking that other, not-so-childish word. I'm not saying that you shouldn't bring a 5-year-old to see it, but I personally believe it becomes funnier when you do understand the implications that the screenwriters included in there. Anything from "What's New Pussycat" to The Matrix is included in this film, leaving you somehow feeling superior to the kids who don't understand any of it. (Even though that sounds harsher and weirder than what it really is). This movie plays on all your emotions, leaving you a helpless romantic with Alex and Gia or even with Gloria and Melman. It makes you yearn to learn more about Vitaly's past, and in fact, it leaves you upset when you finally do learn about his past. It also leaves you feeling just a little bit sad when you realize just how bright (or not) Stefano really is.But most of all, I think it's the subtle details that leave you in awe and laughing. The smile on Mort's face when King Julian "dies" or the color effects of the body paints used in the circus. Sure, there are some slow parts, and I am not saying you should go miss something important to see this movie, but you should go see it if you are in need of something to do. Also, although sequels (and threequels in this case) usually tend to do worse than the first one, this one did definitely better than the second one – and might actually surpass the first – and then you start wondering just how many story lines can be made out of trying to return home.