Saturday 25 May
 
 

The Burning

It speaks to the strength of The Burning’s reputation among cult-film fans that what’s most memorable about the 1981 slasher is not that it was written by the Weinstein brothers, nor that it represents early appearances of the likes of Jason Alexander, Holly Hunter and Fisher Stevens. It’s that its Cropsy is just a damned good villain.
05/24/2013 | Comments 0

Dexter: The Seventh Season

There's no way to discuss the seventh and penultimate season of Showtime's hit Dexter without acknowledging how the previous year ended. Therefore, if you haven't finished the sixth season, stop reading now. You've got work to do.
05/21/2013 | Comments 0

Nightfall

As Simon Lam gets older, he gets better. The veteran actor has appeared in such in seminal HK action films of the 1990s as Once Upon a Time in China (opposite Jet Li) and Bullet in the Head (directed by John Woo); in the aughts, he graced audience and critical favorites Election and Ip Man.
05/20/2013 | Comments 0

Grand Duel

Lee Van Cleef enjoyed a secondary career in Italy cranking out spaghetti Westerns, with little regard to quality. However, 1972’s Grand Duel — aka The Big Showdown — is deserving of its Grand label. No wonder Quentin Tarantino borrowed its sweeping theme song by Luis Bacalov for Kill Bill; you'll recognize it in two notes.
05/20/2013 | Comments 0

The Last Stand

Early in The Last Stand, the small-town sheriff played by Arnold Schwarzenegger says, "It's my day off. Should be a quiet weekend." That's the new way of saying, "I've got one week to retirement," because it signals — with flashing neon and everything — that life is going to royally upend those plans.
05/17/2013 | Comments 0
Home · Articles · Movies · Children's · Madagascar: Escape 2...
Children's

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa


None November 13th, 2008

mad

What's all the fuss about? "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" is amusing "” especially if the sight of animated animal butts moving to music turns you on "” beyond which, it's entertaining enough, but it's just a cartoon movie.

This time out, the four animal friends from the Central Park Zoo leave their castaway status in Madagascar and end up in Africa. The continent, not the country. Alex the lion (Ben Stiller, "Tropic Thunder") finds his parents (voiced by Sherri Shepherd, "Who's Your Caddy?," and the late Bernie Mac, "Soul Men"). Kids with long memories will get a kick out of the subversive "Lion King" parody as sinister lion Makunga (Alec Baldwin, TV's "30 Rock," having a ball) tries to take over leadership of the watering hole.

Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith and David Schwimmer return to voice Alex's friends Marty, Gloria and Melman, but they have little to do. As happened with the first film, this one is stolen by Sacha Baron Cohen ("Borat") as Julien, the lemur king, and Andy Richter ("Semi-Pro") as Mort, leader of the Penguins. Cohen and Richter are so funny, you'll be tempted to want them to have their own movies, but they're funniest because they aren't on screen as often as Alex, whose whiny purity of heart gets tiresome.

This sequel is a lot easier to take than last summer's overrated "Kung Fu Panda," and just as colorfully animated. It's no classic, but it makes a decent setup for "Madagascar 3," which is already on the drawing board.

"”Doug Bentin

 
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
 
 

 

 
 
 
Close
Close
Close