MOVIE REVIEW: Madagascar 3 - Europe's Most Wanted

Reviewing Madagascar 3 from Dreamworks courtesy of Solar-UIP.

Alex the Lion and the rest of his zany zoo friends are back for a third serving of adventure. This time however they're going all across Europe to get back to New York. And they're bringing along some new friends and a new human nemesis to boot.

I wasn't a big fan of the second movie more probably because of the sequel curse but the third caught my interest the right way. By focusing more on developing the character all thanks to a linear story structure I actually started to think of watching the previous two Madagascar movies in one sitting. 

Here are some of the things that I pretty much enjoyed in Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted:

• The new characters were a fresh breathe. In the film you'll meet Vitaly the Russian tiger (who passes through impossibly small hoops), Gia the Jaguar and Stefano the dim-witted seal with a good heart. While we actually only see Vitaly in most of the trailers, there are a lot of great moments for the other characters. Heck I totally loved the new love interest for Sacha Baron Cohen's King Julien in the form of Sonia the Bear played by Megatron himself Frank Welker.
• The film's main baddie Capt. Chantel Dubois is also an interesting character to see in the screen. Unlike the other villains from the previous films, Dubois is a lot more cuckoo and is relentless. She also gets more screen time which she puts to good use. How you ask? Well she sings a classic Edith Piaf song no less.
• Speaking of music, the songs used in Madagascar 3 are a nice mix of new and old songs. Most enjoyable however is "Firework" by Katy Perry which can be heard towards the end of the flick. 
• While the lion/ jaguar chemistry didn't work for me, I can certainly tell you that you should check out all the scenes featuring King Julien and his newfound love Sonia. I had a good time watching those two wreak havoc in Rome. Plus we get to see a different side of the crazy "king" far from the one were used to back in Madagascar 1 and 2.

• The 3D works for this film. In fact there were some scenes from this movie that works really well with the balance between the 3D, the colors and visuals and the music. 

My take on this:

This is a fun movie, you'll laugh a lot and even start hankering for some classic circus entertainment (not the Cirque de Soleil kind). You can bring your kids in this movie without having to worry about the violence level and this can also be a good date movie. 

Ben Stiller's voice acting here was nice but I'm giving the top spot to Sacha Baron Cohen and Frank Welker on this one.