SAVE $12.57 - Madagascar - Escape 2 Africa (Full Screen) $7.42

List Price: $19.99 Deal Price: $7.42 You Save: $12.57

Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 02/06/2009 Run time: 89 minutes Rating: Pg

The sequel to the animated movie Madagascar gives more of everything audiences loved in the first movie: More of the penguins; more of Julian, king of the lemurs; more musical bits of classic rock; and many, many more lions, zebras, hippos, and giraffes. In the first film, a quartet of coddled zoo animals found themselves shipwrecked on the island of Madagascar in a misguided effort to return them to the wild. In Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, a failed attempt to fly back to New York maroons Alex the lion (voiced by Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith), and Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer) in an animal preserve on the African continent, accompanied by the four deranged penguins and the lunatic lemur king (deliriously voiced by Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat). By wild coincidence, this is where Alex was born--and where his father is still the alpha lion, and where his malevolent uncle seeks to take over (let's call this an homage to The Lion King). The other beasts have their own story arcs, but really it's all an excuse for daffy comic bits. Though the result is disposable, it's also entirely entertaining. The action sequences pop with dizzying spectacle; though some jokes are mainstream fodder, more often they're surprisingly quirky and engagingly oddball. This is the best kind of cotton candy filmmaking--it dissolves into nothing, but it's oh-so-sweet to the taste. --Bret Fetzer

Director: Eric Darnell; Tom McGrath

Actor: Ben Stiller; Chris Rock; David Schwimmer; Jada Pinkett Smith; Sacha Baron Cohen

Creator: Eric Darnell; Tom McGrath; Lorne Orleans; Mark Swift; Mireille Soria; Etan Cohen

Release Date: 2009-02-06

Original Release Date: 2008-01-01

Manufacturer: DreamWorks

Format: Full Screen; NTSC

Search Best Offer: Amazon US Amazon UK Amazon CA

Last updated: February 4, 2010, 6:59 pm (Prices and availability are subject to change without notice.)