Who would have thought? A sequel that is actually better, and more enjoyable, than the original. Actually, as I mentioned I found the original to be rather boring and pointless, and also somewhat lacked a plot, but it turned out that this one was actually a lot more engaging. In fact it felt as if the original was simply made as a lead up to this one. Mind you, since the first one did have a large part set in New York, the movie would have probably been too long to work all that well, but still it seemed as if this film succeeded where the first had, in my opinion, failed.First of all it had a better plot, namely Alex the Lion was born in Africa but had been captured by hunters and taken to the Central Park Zoo in New York. However, after being sent back into the wild, and landing up in Madagascar, they are left to fend for themselves. Well, the penguins build a plane and launch into the air, but unfortunately they run out of petrol and end up crash landing in the middle of Kenya. In fact they land up in the exact same reserve that Alex originally came from, and he even encounters his father. The problem is that because he has been gone for so long, and been raised in the zoo, he hasn't gone through the traditional rites of passage that all lions have to go through.Like a lot of sequels all of the favourite, and not so favourite (namely the Lemurs) have returned. They even have the psychotic little old lady from the first movie that spends her time running around bashing people on their head with her handbag. Now she is on safari, and as is typical she has her own ways of doing things, and surviving. Mind you, she does actually take on a life of her own in this film, and becomes one of the better characters. Okay, she was a pretty cool character in the first movie, but she was only playing a bit role there as where whereas here is it taking a much more major role.In the end though I thought that this was actually a pretty cool movie, and quite enjoyable as well, though it will be difficult knowing what is going on unless you have sat through the original film.

IS MADAGASCAR 2: ESCAPE TO Africa ANY GOOD? Superior sequel finds our heroes fleeing Madagascar and reuniting with Alex's (Ben Stiller) family in Africa, where another lion threatens his family's claim to lead the pride. Meanwhile, Melman (David Schwimmer) struggles to confess his feelings to Gloria (Jada Pinkett Smith) and Marty tries to establish his own identity among scores of identical zebras. Loaded with hilarious non-sequiturs and inspired silliness.IS IT OKAY FOR YOUR KIDS? Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa is rated PG. A large male hippo flirts with a female hippo; the camera focuses on his large buttocks and he says how he likes large females. There's plenty of slapstick violence.ANY WORTHWHILE MESSAGES TO DISCUSS? We all have talents that can contribute to the good of all.

This half piece of nothing is a COMPLETE knock off of The Lion King just LIKE Disney's CGI flick The Wild. Alex finds out he has a dad,the dad owns the land,his evil brother doesn't want him to rule the land blah blah blah.The story picks off right after the first one and Alex(voiced by Ben Stiller) and his gang(Jada Pinkett Smith as the Hippo Gloria,David Schwimmer as the giraffe Melmon,and Chris Rock as Marty the Zebra)end up in Africa where Alex finds out that he has a father (voiced by the late actor Bernie Mac) but his evil brother (voiced by 30 Rock's Alec Baldwin) doesn't want him to rule the land and so he comes up with a plan to get rid of Alec's dad.The animation is great,the charcthers are great but seriously though is Dreamwork's TRYING to become Disney?? like Disney trying to be Pixar or Dreamwork's for that matter with the animation in CGI form.Yeah if I were you guys i'd skip this one and watch the original instead.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa? After watching the film, something about the title, when you say it, doesn't sound right. Even if you've read the plot, the title doesn't make too much sense. The plot involves Alex the lion (voiced by Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith), and Melmen the giraffe (David Schwimmer) as they wind up fleeing the country of Madagascar in the very beginning of the film in a junkyard plane, flown by the pesky penguins, with hopes of reaching New York City. They crash-land in Africa, with no intentions of escaping to there. I guess they wanted to find a way to employ a title of uniqueness.No bother. It's not a huge distraction. Especially considering that the film is a notable improvement from its predecessor. Sometime during the three year break between Madagascar and its sequel, the brewing franchise found direction, hope, and audacity and created a sequel effectively better than the first - a rare quality indeed.Continuing on with the plot, the film opens with nice backstory showcasing how Alex, whose birth name was apparently "Alakay," was born in Africa to two loving parents. His father was Zuba, the alpha lion of the entire land. He turns his back for a few seconds, and Alex is lured to a group of animal poachers and is crated up and taken away. Zuba chases after him with no luck, and Alex's crate doesn't survive a rocky turn, catapulting him into a river. He floats to New York City, is greeted with open arms, and is quickly put into the Central Park Zoo where he will obtain a loyal following of fans. Despite being very dark and somewhat depressing, the elegance of it all sort of gives the picture a Lion King style quality I was not expecting.Then the whole ordeal with the planned flight, intriguing plane crash, and acceptance of being stranded again takes place, before we finally get something else delightfully unexpected; the characters separating. In the original Madagascar, the four animals stuck like clue. In this picture, they go off on their own for a good chunk of the film and sort of evolve into believable animals. The whole quality of the animals sounding like actors and not like their own individual self? Still present, but hidden behind the depth of the storytelling. Alex catches up with his father and mother, Marty desperately seeks confidence in his originality, Gloria finds a plump man, and Melmen becomes the "alpha-doctor?" and frets over confessing his love to Gloria; one of the many sweet love stories the film brings. There is also the obligatory evil character Makunga (Alec Baldwin), Zuba's rival lion, who adds some nicely placed tension to the film whenever he comes on screen. And even King Julien (Sacha Baron Cohen) returns to provide some nice humor.And did I forget to mention those four troublesome penguins? They get much deserved screen time in the picture, providing levels of insight and wittiness complimented by the film's overall narrative, which is more controlled and well-kept rather than so kinetic, jumbled, and anarchic. Is Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa on the same level as a Pixar film? No, but it works as a welcomed rebellion to the company. It sort of reminds me of how in decades past, animation films were theoretically monopolized by Disney, and few films (I can think of Bebe's Kids and Cats Don't Dance) challenged that assumption and ventured out to create their own world. Madagascar's sequel shows its sentimental side I was asking for during the original film. It's a balancing act of humor, sentimentality, and creativity, and is all captured pleasantly.Voiced by: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith, David Schwimmer, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Alec Baldwin. Directed by: Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath.