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Madagascar progresses at a halting pace yet holds viewer attention, says Ervell E. Menezes
THE challenge in the animation film realm is the extent to which the filmmakers make their characters real, credible and interesting, be they humans or animals. And The Lion King, Finding Nemo and Shrek assumed classics status for their efforts. Dreamworks’ Madagascar doesn’t quite fit into that category but it very nearly holds the viewer attention right through. There may not be too many high points and the screenplay could have been more imaginative but it is never at any moment boring, and that is saying quite a lot. The setting is New York’s Central Park zoo where Alex, the lion, is the star attraction and Marty, the zebra, his best friend. Marty is sick of being in captivity and dreams of running away from its prison to wander far, far away in the wilderness in search of freedom. One day, Marty does escape going to Manhattan and it is not long before Alex, Melman, the giraffe, and Gloria, the hippo, go out in search of their dear friend. As expected they are captured and shipped to Africa, only to be marooned in Madagascar. What happens in Madagascar is what the film is all about but sadly the screenplay lacks a bit of imagination. But given its limitations, directors Mark Burton and Billy Frolick do a good job keeping the narrative going. The good lines are few and far between and the voices of Chris Rock, David Shwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith and Ben Stiller are merely academic. The hard fact is the fare has to be made interesting to the viewer and for this there should be enough of action. There are few high points and the narrative seems to progress at a halting pace and more or less on the same plane. Being just 85 minutes long, Madagascar should have been no problem but as one wades through the just-about-okay narrative one feels as though one is sitting through a 120-minute film that seems to be the order these days. As mentioned before, it is at no time boring but Madagascar could have done with a little more meat, let alone the salt and pepper. But it is not as bad as say Anastasia which is a real bomb. Recommended especially for animation film aficionados. |
