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MADAGASCAR is a destination worth seeking out'
Hey folks, Harry here with a look at MADAGASCAR - which it seems I somehow missed a screening for, but that I'm sure to take my nephew to this Sunday. Should be fun. Here ya go...
Caught an advance MADAGASCAR screening tonight (for Hewlett Packard employees) in Redwood City CA. A mostly spoiler-free review follows.
All in all, a fun movie. Yes, yes, not as good as Pixar flicks, but that's not a very good comparison -- in spirit this was far closer to the sillier bits from the Shreks, which I guess shouldn't be too surprising.
Ben Stiller and Chris Rock were both great , although both of them are so recognizable (in both voice and personality) that I sometimes felt I was watching the actors themselves in really strange looking suits. Stiller does a great job of channeling the more likeable aspects of the egomaniac villain from Dodgeball -- maybe more of a smart Zoolander, if that's not too much of an oxymoron. He ends up being the main character in the latter half, although at the beginning the film belongs to Rock. (When it's not nearly stolen out from both of them by the crack team of borderline psychotic Mission Impossible penguins.) Jada wasn't used too well as the Hippo, but some of the best jokes revolved around "Ross" as a hypochondriac giraffe. His various contortions also made for decent physical comedy -- look out Mr. Fantastic!
The animation was an odd mix of very cartoony action with some hyperrealistic effects thrown in for good measure. The main characters themselves are very stylized (I couldn't stop staring at their manifold nostrils, for some odd reason), but they at least took the care to muss up the lion's perfect coif after a couple days in the wild. Some of the water shots (waves, from above) outdid anything similar in Finding Nemo, remarkably enough. Just don't let those shots trick you into thinking about the *plot* in a realistic manner -- this is a story meant to be enjoyed, not considered.
I expected things to pick up when they actually got to Madagascar, but things still proceed at pretty much the same pace. The lemur scenes were a bit overwhelming -- must have been a real challenge to render some of the crowded party scenes -- but apart from the three lemurs that were actually given voices we don't really get a chance to look at the rest of them as individuals. Would have liked at least a few other lemurs/primates to gawk at for more than a few frames. Funnier lines might have helped, too.
Kudos to Dreamworks for the scenes that actually show what happens to some adorable critters out in the wild. But anyone want to guess whether the lion, delirious from hunger, actually tears into one of the surrounding tasty morsels and has a snack? Even if some of those morsels are actually real threats to his buddies and the lemurs? Nah, that would have pushed it up to NC-17 -- modern lions just have to go hungry, I guess.
So who is this movie for? Purportedly everyone, if the various movie references are any guide; not too many kids out there who have seen American Beauty, for example. But I'm hoping the gratutitous "reference" joke is nearing extinction -- it's getting to the point where entire sequences seem to be set up for a silly Shaggy-Dog-type payoff, with the only cleverness involving how to reference the few remaining classic movie shots that haven't been riffed on already. On the other hand, I get the impression that the audience for the poo-flinging and butt-biting jokes never seem to get tired of *those*... so like I said, something for everyone.
And, as a bonus, this movie contains what is I believe the first computer-rendered cartoon scene in Antarctica. Not exactly a money shot, but priceless all the same.
If you use this, call me Sifaka.
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honestly?
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The crowd came out rather close to the HIGH TENSION crowd that was there. Kids were literally jumping and kicking the walls before hanb and then were subdued coming out. Don't know what kind of sign that was. May not be a good one.
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May 27, 2005 10:32:05 AM CDT
What happened to the 'review' of War of the Worlds? It just disa
by iamjacksuserid
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Hell...I got nothing. Figured I'd give it up in a blah way. LOL
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They end up periodising movie gags and destroying any hope of future enjoyment.
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May 27, 2005 10:38:20 AM CDT
WotW review was a shite review. No worries IAm. Not worth out ti
by negative man
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God, but what a piece of garbage that one was.
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just asking.
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honestly. you know what's stupid? casting ben stiller as a voice actor. or ray romano. or cameron diaz. or anybody incapable of slightly modifying their voice for the part, it's retarded. get a cartoon voice actor, or someone that suits the part and isn't the hollywood flavor of the month.
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Plants. Nah, I'm kidding, I just wanted to use that lame joke.
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Which owns every one of our asses, btw.
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May 27, 2005 11:32:45 AM CDT
Hmmm...I think Pixar flicks are kinda boring, so if this is wors
by www.valiens.com
...I think I'll give it the "Ice Age" treatment and never see it. Yeah, Sith is definitely on my plate again this weekend. And "Dominion," the "Exorcist" prequel, too. Oh...hey...wait a minute! That was released last week and is already out of EVERY THEATER IN NEW YORK!!!--WHAT GIVES?!
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May 27, 2005 12:05:19 PM CDT
See it only if you want to lose respect for Sacha Baron Cohen
by stanley spector
The movie is primarily notable for being the first animated feature to not star any white Christians. (The cast is composed of three Blacks - Rock, Pinkett Smith, Cedric the Entertainer - and three Jews - Stiller, Schwimmer, Baron Cohen.) *** The bottom line is: the film has exactly one brilliant joke involving the monkeys and several inspired moments involving the penguins, but they are sandwiched between unrelenting tedium that will distract children under eight with the colours and trippy imagery and boomers with awful movie parodies including (spoilers, I suppose) an American Beauty sequence that owes more to one of Family Guy's takes on American Beauty than the original movie itself, a jaw-droppingly pointless Chariots of Fire spoof, and perhaps the worst Planet of the Apes take-off ever ("Darn you all to heck!" indeed). *** Oh, one more thing that puzzled me: One of the songs listed in the credits is "Piranhas are a Very Tricky Species" by Mark Mothersbaugh, with a note that the song is "from Rushmore." I can't help but wonder whether it was temp music that was just left in as the film was rushed to release.
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Since only this movie and what looks to be the worse remake ever in a Longest Yard comes out. Also Dominion seems to have left all theatres in LA too which sucks because I woul have seen it. This movie looks just bad I wouldn't even take kids just to do something for 2 hours, but I bet it will make over 100 million like every stupid animated movie these days.
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Did Set McFarlane design this movie? All of the characters look like they should be on a DVD submenu labelled "early, abandoned concepts". Seriously, yuck. It's sad, considering how great and distinctive most of Dreamworks' early animated output was (Antz, Prince Of Egypt, Shrek 1 & 2). Like Shark Tale, Madagascar will distract the tykes for about 6 months worth of endless DVD viewing before they get bored of it, and that will be that, while a film like The Incredibles will still be a favorite for decades to come. This is going to be the first major CG 'toon film I'm skipping at the theater (even though I'll probably miss the Wallace & Gromit trailer).
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As for me, I'll be wathing ROTS again.
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May 27, 2005 3:58:56 PM CDT
Maybe this and THE LONGEST YARD will cancel each other out and R
by voice o. reason
I'd hate to see the movie I've waited almost my whole life to see get beat by a remake and a rip-off.
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The script seemed like 20 writers each wrote a scene and mailed it to Dreamworks. Pixar rules.
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May 27, 2005 11:37:09 PM CDT
The evil penguins are in a commercial where the use an HP printe
by frankdrebin
From the reviews, it sounds like the penguins (and Ali G) steal the movie, the way the sabertooth squirrel stole ICE AGE. As for the inconsistent animation, that the the problem with Dreamworks' SINBAD too. You had 2D hand-drawn characters on a CGI ocean fighting 3D monsters. In the dvd commentary, the director admitted it was a money issue.
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I just saw the film tonight and loved the penguins. I agree that the film is there to be enjoyed, not considered. Some fun gags, we laughed a lot, and some scenes that'll make you roll your eyes, but it's targetted for everyone. Good little romp. Take the kids, take the grandparents, take a date. It's a fun little romp through the jungle.
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He wrote: "How come they can't sculpt a good story when an animated feature takes years to make? Each film should be a masterpiece when you've got that much time to concentrate on it. There's no excuse."
ANSWER: In Hollywood is something called executives. One reason why Mr. George Lucas wanted his sequel rights was to avoid having these wonderful people in hollywood mess up his stories. "How bout' putting some pants on the wookie." In Hollywood, great scripts sell and many are butchered by people in suits that lack any ammount of talent. Also, many ideas get killed in the creative stages by proud people that think they know best and bark the loudest. Few movies survive the men in suits and we can blame them for the drivel we are subjected to. All the more reason to appreciate what gems we have and all the more reason to wonder what the director or writer had in mind before their work went through the shredder. As to Madagascar, sure it's no Pixar, it's no Shrek, but it's not all crap either. It had more appeal to me than the recent CG flick Robots and Disney's Home on the Range (neither of which I have bothered to see). If you like it, you like it, if you don't, you don't. So be it. Still got me to laugh a few times and after a day of hell, that's exactly what I needed. -
Saw this today with my girlfriend. I was so Disapointed. The plot is bad the look is bad. There is not one good thing to say about this movie.
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I had to take my 7 year old nephew to go see it today, he was bored senseless and got a little ansy...Can't wait to see HIGH TENSION in a packed theatre next weekend! I put it on last night for my after party guests, needless to say, they were a bit disturbed and asked me to put something else on, not that they hated it, but it was too tense for them, they were all on Blow on think! LOL
Anyways, Madagascar, SKIP IT, this is as bad as ROBOTS... -
. . . here's the Valiant trailer. http://www.apple.com/trailers/disney/valiant/ Looks like crap. It's so refreshing to finally see a fart joke make it into a trailer.
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It's good simple entertainment. There is no plot - but it's fun and funny. You go, you laugh, you drop it and go home. The thing is, you're either going to like the references and humor or those references aren't your "type" of humor and you won't like it. The Penguins steal the movie. It's fun.
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May 28, 2005 8:54:39 AM CDT
Why do they insist on getting famous people to voice these charc
by retrace
Why not leave it to the professional voice actors? Finding Nemo sucked because everytime that tang fish talked I had to picture Ellen's ugly ass face. Obviously kids don't care who's voice it is - and adults would enjoy it more if the voice was acutally good rather than just recognizable. And if its all to just lend famous names to a movie - thats sad and worthless....the best movies of all time have no name actors in it.
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"Lukewarm" would be pushing it, if you ask me. The author keeps dissecting pieces of the film that didn't work for him and then withdraws from his own criticisms by saying "But hey: this movie isn't for thinking about!" For what it's worth, the penguins seem very funny, and the sight gag of the lion biting his zebra friend's butt in the commercials that have been doing the rounds recently tricked me into thinking that this movie had something interesting to say about what it's like to be torn from familiar environments. Until DreamWorks' animation department stops preoccupying themselves with stuffing as many visual quotes as is possible into one movie and actually starts preoccupying themselves with telling a good story, consider me a skeptic.
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http://www.petitiononline.com/aunycxvc/petition.html
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Saw a free screening of this and it was unbelievably bad. The character design work is neat, but the backtrounds are just weird (although NYC Zoo was nice). Disco Lemurs? Forget it. The voice work was terrible--especially the leads. It'd be nice if dreamworks could just learn to TELL A STORY rather than rely on crappy/dated pop culture references. It's a dud.
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May 28, 2005 11:27:42 PM CDT
"this movie contains what is I believe the first computer-render
by orionsangels
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Nothing spectacular, but an okay rental.
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another YEAR?
This was pretty good, funny monkeys and penguins. But not close to Pixar's level. What DOES Katzenberg do all day, anyway? -
1)Drugs. 2)Hookers. 3)Lunch. (Note to whoever patrols these TBs: I do not know Katzenberg personally, nor do I pretend to. He could be a very nice man for all I know. But seeing as how I'm bored, and all three of the above are Hollywood cliches, and all three are plays on words for what one can "do," the opportunity was too good to pass up).
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May 30, 2005 3:40:40 AM CDT
Well ROTS already won Friday & Saturday grosses. It'll proba
by orionsangels
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/?sortdate=2005-05-28&p=.htm
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I care bud and my kids do too. Took them, they laughed, I laughed it was fun. So shut your hole boner.
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So much hate on a simple kids flick. Was it great? No. Was it fun? Sure. My kids loved it. I enjoyed most of it. Lemurs were at least pretty original. Chris Rock was too much himself, but hey, what do you want from the guy? That is what they paid him for. Film references can get old, but there were not NEARLY as many as in Shrek 1 or 2, and the twilight zone reference was excellent. As for celebrety voices, it bugs me some too, but it is NOT always bad. Many here seem to hate Degeneres (sp?) in Finding Nemo, but far more people out there felt she was one the their favorite things about the movie, so go figure. Another example is Robin Williams doing the Genie in Aladin, vs. the guy who does the voice in all the spin off stuff. It is NOT the same character in the end. The film was NOT that bad.
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This blows Shrek out of the water .. it is definitely up there with Toy Story. We only saw it (at the Alamo Drafthouse) because Batman was sold out .. and it turned out to be best movie we've seen all summer. There was no children in the theatre (it is a night-time, drinking establishment) and the audience was roaring through the whole thing. My guess is that the noisy little kids distracted the posters above.)
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