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Spy David Aames sees MADAGASGAR and says 'Pack the kids in the wagon and check it out'!!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with a new look at MADAGASCAR, the Dreamworks animated flick. The review is very positive, but our spy, David Aames, does admit that the plot is pretty thin. I guess they all can't be THE INCREDIBLES, eh? At least it sounds better than that turd-sucker Dreamworks released last year...
Hi Harry:
David Aames here. Saw "Madagascar" last week in San Francisco. Looks like Dreamworks has another animated hit on its hands. Quick review: much better than "Shark Tale" but not on par with "Shrek 2."
Long review: "Madgascar" is about four zoo animals - a lion (voiced by Ben Stiller), a zebra (Chris Rock), a hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) and a giraffe (David Schwimmer). Marty the zebra is bored with zoo life and longs for the wild. The penguins - who STEAL the show - are also looking to bust out and head to Antartica. But Stiller, Smith and Schwimmer are happy with being pampered at the Central Park Zoo. So Marty breaks out one night and the three go looking for him. They all get busted at Grand Central Station and are sent back to their cages. After a PETA-like protest, they're put on a ship to a wildlife preserve in Kenya. The penguins hijack the ship and the gang accidentally gets thrown overboard, where they float to the shores of Madagascar (hence the title). There they run into a group of lemurs, led by King Julien (Sacha Baron Cohen a.k.a Ali G). He does such a bang-on Indian voice that you'd friggin' swear he was channelling Peter Sellers from "The Party". At first the lemurs are afraid, but then they welcome the group (especially Alex the Lion) in hopes they will protect them from all predators.
The plot is fairly weak - they should have established a villain in the story. The subplot about Alex the lion discovering his primal instincts and fighting the urge not to eat his friends will probably scare the little tykes (he sees them as steaks like those old Tex Avery cartoons). There is also a scene where cute and cuddly animals get devoured in the wild. But after "Revenge of the Sith" this probably seems like a picnic to the kids.
Overall, there is enough here to entertain pretty much everyone. The animation is nice and crisp.Stiller loses most of his neurotic habits while voicing Alex. As I said, the penguins steal the whole frickin' show (I say sequel with the penguins). There's a nice mix for both kids and adults.
And hey, what animated movie do you know that pays homage to "American Beauty", "Castaway" and "The Planet of the Apes"?
Pack the kids in the wagon and check it out.
David Aames
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Although I'm still traumatized by the Hip Hop version of Finding Nemo.
What's up with that anyway? Hip Hop XXX, Hip Hop Nemo, Hip Hop Star Wars...Err, wait.
Oh, and first. -
Dutch_Drunk what are you talking about?
Nice review by the way, but sounds like a rental so I can see ROTS 2 weekends in a row. -
May 10, 2005 3:55:20 AM CDT
"Learn to know the Dark Side of the Force and CRUSH the stupid f
by tall_boy
Sith is going to destroy this.
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I will be packing up the kids for it.
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I just shot coffee onto my monitor! Not THAT was funny. There
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May 10, 2005 8:15:26 AM CDT
I thought Alexandra DuPont said that ROTS wasn't all that bloody
by frankdrebin
I'll probably check out Madagascar because it looks like a DreamWorks animated film that isn't 95% pop tunes, movie parodies and cultural references.
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This movie looks good, but what a damnable place to be in: Better than Shark Tale but not as good as Shrek 2. Wow, it falls in between two of the most forgettable pieces of shit animation has ever produced.
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So it's not as 'good' as Shrek 2?
Since Shrek 2 was a huge disappointment I'm probably going to skip this one then. Dreamworks has been going downhill since the first installment of Shrek... -
First I've gotta find a wagon, then some kids...I wonder if I offer random kids free candy if they'll get in my car. Not on par with Shrek2 sounds suspiciously like "Not on par with Ring2 or XXX2." Shrek2 was crap. I kinda laughed one time in that movie, at the Starbucks joke, and that was near the end.
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Vanilla Sky fucking rocks.
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one of the best lines "Well, this sucks." Fun little movie although the plot is very thin and the movie never really has a major climax. When it ends you're going to be wondering, "is that it". However, it is funny and I enjoyed it.
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I say this will clear $250 million easily...even $300 million. Those kids don't care about story and will see it over and over...how can you beat evil penguins??????????????
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May 10, 2005 4:28:02 PM CDT
The real question is what other movie did Dreamworks rip this of
by malx
I mean, they got 'Antz' from 'A Bug's Life' and 'Shark's Tale' from 'Finding Nemo'. My world feels unbalanced without knowing what (presumably Pixar) film they ripped off for this.
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Downhill so quickly I'm disappointed. I can just imagine the endless stupid one lines. I can just imagine the endless whooa! Oh no! chase scenes! Wooo just in time, we made it again! Then a touching moment and we cry for the sad wittle animal. Oh then more stupid one liners! And look! Each of the animals LOOKS like the movie star! How clever. Already been done, and done again, and done again and done again. barf.
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---Oh, what a releif, for a minute there, I thought the review might have been written by Susan Smith.
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Dreamjerks couldn't make a good animated film if their life depended on it. Formula of DSKG: Animated animals thought up for toy sales + anachronistic 'hip' humor + lame celebrity stunt casting + 'hit' artists on soundtrack = $$$$. Sadly, they're right. But their films suck balls. And don't even count Nick Park's Chicken Run or Wallace & Gromit, because they're only distributing. Oh, and thanks for the royal screwup with the Ghost In The Shell 2 DVD as well, guys. Wonderful.
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you don't have to reign fire and brimstone on every movie you don't love.l
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I hate when people say that CGI animation movies are dead just becuase Dreamworks release some a few pieces of shit. Like Brad Bird says in The Incredibles commentary, animation isn't a genre. Saying CGI animated movies are going downhill is like saying movies in general are going downhill.
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Eff sicks teen ayne, You are a bit unclear on the concept portrayed. "CGI" technology is bearly busting out. It hasnt even closely met its potential yet. The idiots who work the technology are stuck in their sorry world of uncreative re-hash. They are takng the potential of something unbelievably incredible down their toilet of to the land of Stinky Humdrums. There. I hope that clears it up.
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May 10, 2005 10:55:16 PM CDT
How about you watch the fucking film before you trash it?
by wukkawukka
I caught Madagascar last week and thought it was great. Comparing it to Shrek 2 is a bit pointless (whether you enjoyed that film or not) - Madagascar is a different film and stands on its own merits.
The penguins are absolutely hilarious, but for me it was the monkeys who really stole the show with only a couple of lines (mainly about throwing poo).
Oh, and Van Rant - go and see ROTS, then watch your fucking Tony Danza video till your eyes bleed. Jerkoff. -
Antz and Shrek 1 entertained me to a certain degree, all the rest of Dreamworks films' were just lame, pop-culture referencing crap with christina aguilera songs in the soundtrack. Just because Shrek does the upside down kiss from spiderman or a ring falls onto Fiona's finger like in LOTR doesn't automatically make it funny.
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...wait till it comes on dvd. I have no idea what the story is about (which is a bad thing, you'd think the trailer would tell you what exactly those animals are doing). The stylized designs look pretty nice. Unless I start reading good reviews about it, I plan to wait till it comes on dvd.
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I wonder how long it's going to be until every major studio is releasing cheap, unoriginal computer animated fims? I miss the days where I would go to the movies and be amazed at the beauty of digital animation. Now it's so ho-hum and normal that I'm rarely impressed and the only films i've enjoyed belong to Pixar.
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So is pulling out my toenails with a pair of pliers. When the biggest selling point of an animated feature is the voice cast, that spells trouble.
Oh, and PLANT! -
"Here's a nice mix for both kids and adults. And hey, what animated movie do you know that pays homage to "American Beauty", "Castaway" and "The Planet of the Apes"?"
Yeah, good kid movie references. My 6 year old LOVES "American Beauty." This is why I didn't take my daughter to see "Shark Tale" which had homages to a ton of Mafia movies. Nice. I love Mafia movies . I enjoy a nice dark tale about suburban ennui. But come on, Dreamworks, a movie without a ton of "references" for the adults can't be too hard, can it?
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but that rule doesn't neccesarily apply in reverse.
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... and Japan disproves this year after year after year after ...
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This is as good as Toy Story. Very original .. and like Tex Avery and Mad Magazine, doesn't insult children by dumbing down. The PG freed it up to be intelligent enough for little kids.
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