The Dark Continent gets snarky in Dreamworks’ animated comedy sequel, “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.” What fleeting moments of sharp, adult-friendly wit you do get in this kid-centric sequel come, as they did in the 2005 original, from the hilariously idiosyncratic menagerie of secondary characters.
Otherwise, as co-directed and co-written again by Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath, the slightly more zippy “2” furthers the franchise to offer another easy-to-follow and easy-to-swallow adventure.
In the first “Madagascar,” the starring foursome of domesticated Central Park Zoo critters were shipwrecked on the exotic island country in the Indian Ocean. In today’s attempt to get home again — this time by airplane, in a riotous set piece that cleverly sends up the peculiarities of the modern aviation experience — they end up stranded again. Only now, they crash-land on the motherland to find that getting back to one’s roots has its challenges.
The protagonist lion Alex (voiced by Ben Stiller) runs right into his long-lost biological parents, including his alpha male dad (the late Bernie Mac). But the twist to the happy reunion, ripped straight out of the “Lion King,” is that there is an evil rival lion (Alec Baldwin) determined to sabotage the status of father and son.
Meanwhile, Alex’s BFFs have their own problems. Marty the zebra (Chris Rock) is having an identity crisis when he learns that he’s just another clone of a genetically indistinguishable herd on the savanna. The hypochondriac giraffe Melman (David Schwimmer) finally faces up to his crush on his platonic hippopotamus buddy Gloria (Jada Pinkett Smith). But he has competition, as the procreation-minded Gloria is being pursued by a chubby-chaser of her own species (will.i.am).
Simultaneously, the animals are dealing with a drought and with a grandma-from-hell on safari there (Elisa Gabrielli).
In order to serve the many story lines, the already overly large returning cast expands even further for the sequel. Luckily, the great scene-stealers are back too. The militant flock of penguins, the nonplussed pair of English chimpanzees and, especially, the effete and wacky lemur king Julien (with Sacha Baron Cohen providing the picture’s highlight vocal performance) are now officially classic side characters.
They, along with some droll musical references to everything from Barry Manilow to “West Side Story” to “Born Free,” help “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” escape being marooned in children’s cartoon no-man’s-land.
Quick info
‘Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa’
3 out of 5 Stars
Voice Stars: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Sacha Baron Cohen
Directors: Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath
Rated PG for some mild crude humor
Running Time: 89 minutes
