I don't expect a Dreamworks animated picture to be a Miyazaki-level masterpiece.
"Shrek" and "Shrek 2" were both quite entertaining. Despite all the pokes at Disney and "hip" references, deep down there was a Beauty and the Beast fable you could tell the film makers cared about. Fun and light, but not fluff.
"Madagascar" was promoted as a Tex Avery/Chuck Jones-style romp. Celebrity voices emphasized in the trailers, zany humor, light-hearted, silly designs.
So that's what I went in expecting.
One of my favorite animated films of all time, "The Emperor's New Groove" was just such a romp. And hey...despite the very broad characters, nonsensical twists, and frenetic pace it had a decent heart underneath.
So I went in expecting a very basic story, some "hip" references...and a lot of laughs. And maybe even a little heart.
Hmmm.
Well, the scenes with the lemurs and the penguins achieve that energy and humor.
In fact, I kind of wish they had made the penguins and the lemurs the central characters of the film. The movie really feels like it's moving when they're onscreen.
Chris Rock and Ben Stiller's characters are the focus though. (Jada Pinkett Smith and David Schwimmer's characters barely get any of the spotlight. The movie could easily have not had them.)
They try very, VERY hard to sell Alex (the lion) and Marty (the zebra) as best friends.
We're told many, MANY times that they're best friends.
Maybe that's the problem. We never see why they're such good friends.
The lynchpin of the film's plot is that Alex, once he's away from civilization gradually comes to realize that he's genetically predisposed to eat his best friend.
The film tries to sell this as a poignant element.
Man, does it ever try.
I, and most of the others in the audience (kids included) kept hoping we'd get another lemur or penguin scene.
It's cute, parts of it are charming. The lemur and penguin parts are laugh-out-loud funny...
But it doesn't have enough emotional meaning to make the more serious plot twist WORK.
I'm wondering if any non-Aardman, non-Shrek Dreamworks animated feature will be one I want to watch over again.
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
I want to see a sequel featuring nothing but the lemurs and the penguins.
There. I've admitted it.
Posted by kojabu (Member # 8042) on :
I just got back from seeing it and I kind of agree with you. It had some pretty funny quotes, but it seemed like it was trying too hard for a moral. The whole friend not eating a friend thing was already done in Ice Age anyway.
Did you notice when King Julian was using the skeleton hand to gesture that it made the west side gesture very quickly?
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
No I didn't! Heh. If I rent the DVD, I'm definitely skipping to the King Julien scenes.
Posted by kojabu (Member # 8042) on :
I have I Like to Move It stuck in my head now! The end credits were great too, especially the penguins.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
It was okay. There were a couple of funny jokes, and I liked the tertiary characters. The "fun side" conceit was hilarious, and I liked the performance at the zoo.
However:
No plot. Oh my stars, it would have been a great 20 minute short. I could hear the scenes being stretched out. We really didn't need 15 minutes of "I want to be FREEEE!" "No, you don't." angst at the zoo. The ending was also weird. The movie didn't actually resolve, and there was no emotional component.
It actually did remind me of Shrek, and that's not a compliment. I don't like adult humor where the humor consists of swear words they are not saying. Actual sophisticated adult humor is much better, and they clearly did not have writers that were capable of producing it. I'm just not impressed.
Posted by Parsimony (Member # 8140) on :
Based entirely on the previews, I could have guessed this is how people would feel about it. It never looked like it had the thought and heart that some other films have had.
My decision to not see this movie has been confirmed.
--ApostleRadio
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
quote:Originally posted by katharina: No plot. Oh my stars, it would have been a great 20 minute short. I could hear the scenes being stretched out. We really didn't need 15 minutes of "I want to be FREEEE!" "No, you don't." angst at the zoo. The ending was also weird. The movie didn't actually resolve, and there was no emotional component.
Bingo. This could've been a good 30- minute pilot for an animated series...but it wasn't a full-length film. And MAN, did it ever show.
The ending was a bit TOO obviously "Hey! You wanna see these cute characters have more adventures in a franchise, doncha-doncha-doncha? HMMM?"
But as I said, unless it's the lemurs or the penguins (or both!) in a series of 6 minute shorts...I don't think there's any more material to be mined here.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
I did like it when characters started turning into steaks. And the penguins. Otherwise, it as a bit boring. And I agree with kat about the feeling of stretched scenes.
Posted by Enigmatic (Member # 7785) on :
I liked the movie. The penguins and lemurs did completely steal every scene they were in, but I didn't find the other parts bad or boring. I agree completely that the emotional parts fell flat, but I wasn't expecting a tearjerker, just a fun movie with some laughs. They seemed to take the "friends don't eat friends" thing for gags more than for drama. And the references to other movies cracked me up.
A co-worker who also saw it this weekend absolutely hated it, thought the lemurs were annoying and said "Chirs Rock is NOT a zebra" in a tone of voice that implied being a zebra was some sort of noble aspiration that few performers could hope to achieve. To each their own.
--Enigmatic
Posted by TheHumanTarget (Member # 7129) on :
I was disappointed by it, and my four year old daughter thought that the lemur's were the only funny part. Go figure. I guess we'll just watch Shrek II again.
Posted by Darth Ender (Member # 7694) on :
![[Evil Laugh]](graemlins/evillaugh.gif)