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List Price: $34.98 | | Label: Dreamworks Animated
Salesrank: 42434
Released: February 6, 2009 |
| Our Price: $26.68 |
| Used Price: $26.12 |
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MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
The sequel to the animated movie Madagascar gives more of everything audiences loved in the first movie: More of the penguins; more of Julian, king of the lemurs; more musical bits of classic rock; and many, many more lions, zebras, hippos, and giraffes. In the first film, a quartet of coddled zoo animals found themselves shipwrecked on the island of Madagascar in a misguided effort to return them to the wild. InMadagascar: Escape 2 Africa, a failed attempt to fly back to New York maroons Alex the lion (voiced by Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith), and Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer) in an animal preserve on the African continent, accompanied by the four deranged penguins and the lunatic lemur king (deliriously voiced by Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat). By wild coincidence, this is where Alex was born--and where his father is still the alpha lion, and where his malevolent uncle seeks to take over (let's call this an homage to The Lion King). The other beasts have their own story arcs, but really it's all an excuse for daffy comic bits. Though the result is disposable, it's also entirely entertaining. The action sequences pop with dizzying spectacle; though some jokes are mainstream fodder, more often they're surprisingly quirky and engagingly oddball. This is the best kind of cotton candy filmmaking--it dissolves into nothing, but it's oh-so-sweet to the taste. --Bret Fetzer
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa/Nick Penguins (Double DVD Pack) (Full Screen) Reviews:
Disney of course it's good 
2009-12-28 - Bought as a present for my 4 yr. old, the whole family, especially the grandparents loved it. She has watched it at least 12 times now and still wants to watch it again.
Very good follow-up to the first movie 
2009-12-28 - My oldest child loves the Madagascar movies and TV shows (did you know the Penguins have their own series?). This movie did not disappoint. He sat with rapt attention throughout the whole movie in the theater, and when he got it for X-Mas this year he sat through it again laughing and enjoying it like he was seeing it for the first time.
Rumble in the Jungle
2009-12-16 - So who would win in a fight? The animals of Madagascar 2 or the animals (and two people) from Up? Okay...that's just silly. Okay...which movie is better? Let's break it down in pro boxing's real world 8-point-must system.
The fight for the better movie (7 Rounds):
M2 story: 10
UP story: 10
M2 voice acting talent: 10
UP voice acting talent: 9
M2 action: 10
UP action: 10
M2 Animation/FX: 9
UP Animation/FX: 10
M2 Humor: 10
UP Humor: 9
M2 family fun factor: 10
UP family fun factor: 10
M2 "I wanna see it again" factor: 9
UP "I wanna see it again" factor: 8
Decision: M2 68; UP 66
Better Movie: Madagascar 2
Both movies are well worth your time...especially for a nice warm Winter sit-down with the kids. Check 'em out.
widescreen - dvd - Madagascar II
2009-11-24 - I ordered two copies of this DVD because my daughter, grandson and I love this movie. However, it is not widescreen. I could tolerate that but the DVD does not allow me to skip the previews, nor does it stop at the end of the movie. The DVD returns immediately to the beginning of the movie and restarts itself. We enjoy that feature but also realize DVDs are not supposed have that feature. So, while the movie is hilarious and entertaining, the DVD was a disappointment.
Thank you.
African Cotton Candy from Dreamworks!
2009-11-15 - The movie starts as a prequel and gets the audience caught up to a modified airplane that gets shot out by a slingshot and away we go! Even before the movie begins, the Dreamworks logo with the boy with the fishing line was cute until he gets attacked by penguins. Hilarious!
The movie has an overall theme a'la The Lion King, where Alex discovers the tribe he originally came from, complete with an "origin of". The greedy uncle, creepily voiced by Alec Baldwin, tricks Alex and his dad and ends up getting everyone kicked out. The story is pretty predictable but I think younger kids will like it.
The penguins and the crashing plane scene is worth all four stars, funny! I don't want to spoil the jokes but the whole thing was played out so well. The head Penguin's love affair with his spring doll is kinda silly too.
The DVD has other sprecials -- tons of classic rock sung by our favorite Dreamworks characters from their earlier films (Shrek, Madagascar, Bee Movie, etc.) that I think younger kids will like. A silly penguin game is added which was probably programmed for very young children -- Halo it's not!
Really enjoyed the director and crew's take on the film, what they thought of it, the scenes in studio watching the actors get in character was fun and interesting to watch as well, if you are interested in the filmmaking process, storyboarding and scripting and so on.
I would have liked a bit more screen time with the penguins and the monkeys. The Gloria love affair with her Moto Hippo was kinda bizarre. Move-it, Move-it with the plot all ready!
Not a bad package: Movie, games, several animated rock videos and several "making of". Can't go wrong with this one.
Dreamworks stuff:
Bee Movie (Widescreen Edition)
Shrek (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Madagascar (Widescreen Edition)
