My sister and I saw the film this afternoon. Story and direction-wise, the overall quality of the production basically mirrors that of its predecessor, although I believe I may have enjoyed the sequel a tad bit more due to a very tender element that was inserted into the film*. I would gladly pay the $8.00 buck-a-roo attendance fee for that element alone, but, other than that, my opinion on the feature is that it’s pretty much just as good (or as bad) as the first Madagascar film.
*Le “tender element” was this:
[spoil]A relationship between two characters was inserted into the film, namely between Melman the giraffe and Gloria the hippo. As unusual as it may seem, I thought it was one of the most adorable things I’d ever seen. So charming. I really am considering seeing the film a second time just for that.[/spoil]
Well, that’s good news, Mitch. Dreamworks managed to pull off this sequel pretty well, according to your review.
I can’t wait to find out what this ‘tender moment’ is, but as I haven’t seen the movie (and it comes out later where I live), I won’t spoil it for myself just yet. But I have a fair inkling of what it may it is.
I can’t wait to find out how will [spoil]Melman resolve his unrequited love for Gloria, as well as competition from Moto Moto (it was revealed in the trailer.[/spoil]
I saw the cover to the ‘Art of Madagascar’, and that African vista is stunning. If the movie’s visuals live up to that painting on the cover, I’m gonna be floored.
By the way, I did a little makeover to my Youtube channel’s wallpaper to help Dreamworks with a little publicity. Adopts King Julian voice “You like it…huh?”
Al-Bob: You mean, discriminatory. I don’t think you are exactly ‘racist’ towards names, why would liking your own namesake be so? Though it could be possibly narcissistic, heheheh.
thedriveintheatre - Yeah, they did a fairly decent job of making the film entertaining. It could have been better, of course, but it’s not a terrible production. (heheh)
Seriously, the rendering job they did on this feature is astonishing. If nothing else, go for the set direction… if you’re willing to pay the dough.
So, by the sounds of things, it’s so-so? Considering I never even properly saw the original, it’s less and less likely that I’m going to see Madagascar 2. Thanks for the review though, Mitch, nice to see what a Pixar fan thinks of the film.
Fett101 - Ha! Yeah, that about sums up my review, as well.
lizardgirl - No problem. Although I’m not extremely fond of DreamWorks’ productions, I continue to see their films anyway because I have this… weird appreciation for their sense of humor, as does my sister. We’re fond of crude stuff like that, for some reason. (snigger)
Yeah, if you weren’t crazy about the first one then you probably wouldn’t like the sequel. To be perfectly frank, the story’s just as weak as its predecessor.
The story was ok I suppose. I enjoyed the time watching it but I have no desire to see it again.
[spoil]What really bugged me is that Marty and Melman’s side-plots were never really resolved. Though you could argue his friendship with Alex fills his need for uniqueness from the herd but it’s not much of a resolution. The film just totally forgets that Marty feels lost in the herd.
And I thought they were going to go further into Melman’s medical experience effecting the giraffe population. Perhaps could have still climaxed with boosted personal confidence and then him revealing his love.
But really I’m over thinking this probably. The story just wasn’t as streamlined as I personally like.[/spoil]
Yeah, but without that sub-plot, the drought would never have been explained, the penguins would never have had all the materials needed to rebuild the plane, Mekunga [spoil](Alec Baldwin lion)[/spoil] would never have been beat up and banished, and not having it would also mean cutting out a lot of laughs and a lot of runtime. I mean, the film is only what, 88 minutes long? Without that, It would have probably felt empty and short and you would have complained about that! So yes, I liked that sub-plot a lot!!!
I saw it this morning, and in my opinion it was a lot better than the first (which I really liked). The visuals are way better, the story is more interesting, and it is really funny. You can’t really compare it to something like WALL•E, but it is still really funny, and a lot of fun. Most people who didn’t like the first one, have liked this one. In my opinion it is definitely worth seeing.
Well, I saw Madagascar 2. I really really impressed with it.
THerer were quite a lot of funny moments in the movie. I thought the [spoil]fighting-grandma[/spoil] was the best part. It came out of nowhere and to someone you would never expect. Surprising and silly, but it got me laughing really hard.
I thought the Melvin/Gloria relationship really hit me in the soft spot. I was really touched by their relationship. Call me crazy, but I found it a lot more cuter and more lovable than the WALL-E/EVE reationship.
Anyways, Dreamworks did a really awesome job. I liked it just as much as the first one.
I also saw this on Sunday, and it was really, really good. I enjoyed the first one as well, but this one I liked just a little bit more. I think that it is worth seeing, and the plot does come together nicely. Considering that different characters each had there own story lines, they got tied together well.
In my opinion, there isn’t really anything that I would change in it. Is it the most brilliant movie ever? No, but it is really, really good, and definitely worth seeing. The only thing now is that I just wish that I had seen it in IMAX. And, if you want to see it for the landscapes, they were really good, and more advanced then the first one - I found them to be more artistic.
I’m not sure what I think about the M/G thing. It seems like it’s very tacked on, what I call a “forced romance”, when they want to have a romance just for the sake of having a romance so they take two of the characters and make a quick one.
And has anyone noticed that in a lot of movies these days the only thing the female supporting character does is fall in love?
