Madagascar 3: Europe's Most WantedRating: 3A Disappointing EndAfter the high of Madagascar 2, improving on the okay movie that was Madagascar, I came to Madagascar 3 hoping that the trend would continue and it would be even better than the second. I was sadly disappointed: it was dumb, dull and dreadful.As is to be expected, the third main installment in the Madagascar series sees Alex the lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith), Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer) and their friends try to find their way back to New York. This time, they are pursued by a relentless French Pest Control Officer and stow away on an animal circus train, becoming owners of said circus.In contrast to the rest of the movie, the animation was excellent. It was visually appealing, pretty and colourful and was an improvement on the earlier entries in the series. Shame there wasn't a movie to go with it.The plot is by far the worst part of the film, and if it had been up to a decent standard, the other problems wouldn't have seemed so bad. Suspension of disbelief is to be expected in films, but this goes so far beyond this as t become utterly ridiculous and render the film pointless. Characters literally do the impossible in a huge way and on a frequent basis and it's lazy. In many ways, the film is all over the place and makes no sense. On other occasions, chunks of the plot are resolved far too easily and so become (I've said it before) pointless. In terms of comedy, it is almost non-existent. I remember about three occasions it made me smile and many jokes seem very forced.Apart from Alex, the main characters from the previous film are shunted to the back to get even less development than Alex and the new characters that replace them. This is sad because they are as much a part of this series: I would have loved the penguins, the lemurs and even the chimps to get more screen time and lines. In fact, I don't even remember if the chimps got any dialogue at all and King Julien seems to be constantly drunk or high. Furthermore, the main quartet suddenly pick up new talents out of nowhere just to fit the plot. In my opinion, bringing in lot's of new characters is a sign of laziness and for the most part the new characters and predictable and dull. I say for the most part, I kind of like Vitaly, although I don't know if it's just his accent I like. The villain is unoriginal, unrealistic and dull.Another thing that bugged me was the constant use of songs, some which I didn't even feel fitted the scene. In the previous films, they were strategically placed but here they are everywhere and they lose all meaning because of it. And don't even get me started on that horrible "Afro Circus" song - no, don't play it at the end like you're proud of it! It's sad for me because the original film was quite a big part of my childhood. My siblings and I even had cuddly toy versions of the main characters, so it pains me to see the studio stoop to such levels of laziness and money grabbing it. A five year old might enjoy how colourful it is but there is nothing else to enjoy in this disappointing end. Now, I'm going to create fake accounts and dislike the "Afro Circus" YouTube video.

Original Score:2.5/4Following up the story of the New York Zoo animals that have escaped from New York Zoo and was supposed to be sent back to the wildlife preserve of Africa, and accidentally ends up at the island of Madagascar. Where they reside and make friends with the residents of the island, the lemurs with their King Julien. From the ending of the first film, we know that the boat is out of gas. From the ending of the second film, we know that they live happily in Africa awaiting the return of the penguins who will take them back to New York after their trip.Opening in African Savannah where the second part of the story left off, we see The New York Giants(which is how the Lemurs addressed the Zoo animals from New York) overlooking a model of the city of New York. Including the New York Zoo where they call home. Alex and the other animals decides to swim for Monte Carlo in search of the penguins Skipper, Private, Rico and Kowalski who can take them back home. In addition, when they did, an animal control member named Dubois chases them across Monte Carlo (and later all over Europe). Was this the suggestion of the film's plot by the film's title? Absolutely. Some of the sequences are absolutely a visual delight for the audiences. I really did like the circus show that they did, which really did impress the American promoter. And also the finale where they did Trapeze Americando which delighted both the audiences in the show and the audiences who were watching the show. Do not exclude me because I am among the theater audiences as well. Still, I like the ways that Alex talked about following good passions, and how they inspired the Circuis Zargoza's animals to train hard and create a show that literally blew the American promoter away. However, that is pretty much one of the few things I like about the show. Other moments, not by a long shot due to the galling content. Unlike it's predecessors, Madagascar 3 has improved significantly compared to the first or second entry in the Madagascar film series. The characters of the third film have their own respective personalities, and I mean the characterizations are somehow there for the circus animals. But other characters, not so much. The plot, on the other hand, has tuned down it's humor's level of explicit content, but it is still on a level that offers kids and adults some enjoyment and entertainment without too much irrelevance, but note that irrelevant content is still present in the film. Which is what I did not like about it.Here is an example (along with the predecessors of this film) that you should not add any of that unnecessary stuff in the film, including rude humor, offensive dialogue, disturbing scenes and stuff like that. So, here's to hope that the fourth entry in the series would not be like it's predecessors, which contains a lot of unnecessary stuff.Overall, kids will enjoy the third entry in the Madagascar film series with the appealing circus performances, vocal performances and characters that they will like. But I didn't exactly like the whole thing, here I hope that the fourth entry in the franchise would tune down upon it's rude humor and focus more upon it's story, creating a film that would be as appealing as How to Train Your Dragon, which is perhaps Dreamworks's best and most relevant franchise to date.

DreamWorks is still nothing compared to Disney, but they are working their way up the animated ladder, producing effective and fun movie series such as this, along with the "Shrek" and "How to Train Your Dragon" movie series.The plot of this movie is still centered around Alex, Marty, Gloria and Melvin, four domestic African animals who are shipped to the island of Madagascar after a breakout from the zoo. However, this story is now further developed as a colorful cross-continent escape from Captain Chantel DuBois (voice of Frances McDormand).Coupled with new, color-filled characters in Gia (Jessica Chastain), Vitaly (Bryan Cranston), and Stefano (Martin Short), this movie is filled with excitement, laughter, and fun for the whole family. A perfect addition to a hilarious movie trilogy.

I know this is coming in late but my kids just got this as a gift and we've watched it a few times now. I think the whole movie summarizes nicely when the animals finally get their wish by returning to the NY zoo only to realize that its not what they really want, having experienced all that they have with their travels. Being zoo animals all along only hindered their growth and never would have given them the experiences they shared between each other and with the other characters. Each of the M-animals find "true" happiness and Dubois gets served justly. I think some of the "show stealing" moments are by Stefano's facial expressions (in particular when he is in the train car eagerly waiting for Alex's description of his American circus routine), Dubois crashing through the office building walls pursuing the animals, the way the bear drives the motorcycle flipping every where, and the scene where the French animal police are in a recovery room and bust their casts as Dubois sings. Yeah, it's only a cartoon but...just how does a large Siberian tiger fit through a tiny ring? Hilarious!