Fantastic CGI Achievement

This movie is a blast. The follow-up to 2005's "Madagascar", in which New York Zoo animals, Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe and Gloria the Hippo, still stranded on Madagascar, start to leave the island. The group suddenly lands in Africa, where Alex meets all the rest of his family, but has trouble communicating with them after spending so much time around people at the Central Park Zoo.

If I had all the time in the world, I'd watch this movie over and over with my daughter. The music was fun and upbeat and the characters were over the top.

I never got to catch the first movie, but, it didn't seem to matter here. I caught myself laughing at many things I would never really have thought was funny, but it always seemed to entertain you and allow you to believe that the characters were real.

Character Voices:

Ben Stiller ... Alex (voice)
Chris Rock ... Marty / Additional Zebras (voice)
David Schwimmer ... Melman (voice)
Jada Pinkett Smith ... Gloria (voice)
Sacha Baron Cohen ... Julien (voice)
Cedric the Entertainer. Maurice (voice)
Andy Richter ... Mort (voice)
Bernie Mac ... Zuba (voice)
Alec Baldwin ... Makunga (voice)
Sherri Shepherd ... Mom (voice)

Don't miss this one. I'll give it 5/5.

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SAFARI GETAWAY!

Features Actors Voices:Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith, David Schwimmer, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, Bernie Mac,Sherrie Shepherd & Alec Baldwin
Running Time:89 Min.
Rating:PG

After being stranded on the tiny, titular African island, our four heroes -- egomaniacal lion Alex (Ben Stiller), hypochondriac giraffe Melmen (David Schwimmer), smart alecky zebra Marty (Chris Rock), and lovelorn hippo Gloria (Jada Pinkett Smith) -- are finally headed home. On a junk airplane refurbished by those pesky penguins, self-proclaimed King Julien (Sacha Baron Cohen), along with his right-hand advisor Maurice (Cedric the Entertainer) will take the quartet back to New York. Of course, things don't go as planned, and everyone ends up in the middle of a wildlife preserve in Africa. There, Alex meets up with his dad Zuba(Bernie Mac), mom (Sherrie Shepherd), and conniving Uncle Makunga (Alec Baldwin). Makunga (Alec Baldwin), however, sees the reunion of father and son as a means to banish both from the group, making him the new king. Marty, meanwhile, is having identity issues as a member of the zebra pack, and Gloria is unimpressed with the male hippos. Melman becomes the giraffes’ new witch doctor, but is told he has two days to live during his first day on the job. When the fun-loving feline fails at the tribe's right of passage, however, it's clear these big city critters need to get back to Manhattan, and fast.

Hope this helps you decide.Thanks for reading! :)

my favorite movie

Madagascar Sequel Good for Whole Family

by Cassy Headley

In the first Madagascar, a cute little lion Alex gets taken by hunters and ends up in New York where he is kept in a zoo.
He meets some friends and they end up in Madagascar where they are housed by lemurs. In Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa the group of animal friends decides to try to get back to New York (via plane flown by penguins) but end up crash landing in Africa. Trouble rears its ugly head when the plane the animals got there on is destroyed in their crash landing and Alex has to go through a type of initiation ceremony in order to be accepted back into his father’s pride of lions.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is entertainment for the whole family. Not only is it a cute animated tale of good verses evil, but like any other kids movie these days, it has adult content. I recommend this sequel to anyone who has seen the first Madagascar and to all of those who haven’t like me! It is easy to follow and the animation is attracting to the eye making it easily tolerable for all ages.

Very Good Story, just not as good as the original

My kids loved the original Madagascar DVD. So we got the sequel in blu ray.

THE PROS:
+ the HD animation in blu ray is simply awesome... the vibrant colors and the crisp details make the animation come alive even more
+ the story & lessons are similar to the original madagascar in that they emphasize the value of friendship, loyalty, and overcoming adversity but they also add a different twist by adding the importance of family into it as well
+ I love the cute humor in the animation and think that the penguins are hilarious... they are back and they're as resourceful as ever
+ I always love stories with inventive gadgets in it, and the penguins and lemurs are back... creating functioning airplanes and parachutes

THE CONS:
- they tried adding a bit of puppy love element to this movie, and therefore turned this into a PG movie... not sure that it really made this movie a whole lot better... they could have done w/o it and kept it as a G rating
- the scary granny is back in this movie - with a vengeance... and while a NY granny beating up lions are funny as a cameo, she does this too much in this movie, and it gets a bit old

Overall, I gave this a 5 star rating but it's more like 4.5 stars for not quite living up to the high standards of the original. My kids love it (6 and 4) and I guess that's the most important litmus test. But they both clearly prefer Cars and Kung Fu Panda better.

Far better than the original, a must-own and see if you love 'Madagascar'

A sequel that truly surpasses the original in humor, wit and zaniness. There's also a bit of randomness in this particular installation that makes me laugh hysterically. This reveals Alex's childhood which I found to be really intrieguing. The animation is even better than the original and the characters are more fleshed-out in this version. Sasha Baron Cohen steals the show as King Julien though.
This has a little something for everyone. If you've seen the first, you definitely want to see Escape 2 Africa, because it is simply better and more hysterical. The madcap randomness and the morals abound. There may be a bit more innuendo this time around but it's pretty tame. The interspecies love was interesting in and of itself. Some parents might object to that sort of thing since it's not really 'accurate' but to be honest, it shows kids that people can accept each other and love one another even if they are different.