Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa 2008

Ben Mankiewicz, At the Movies: This is a really funny movie. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: Fans of the first Madagascar will find much to enjoy in Escape 2 Africa. Read more

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: There's a generally more diverting entertainment waddling along the edges of Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa than the larger one lollygagging on screen. Read more

Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader: Lessons about family loyalty, tolerance, ingenuity, and sacrifice add depth to the screenplay by Etan Cohen and directors Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: The roots are shallow, but the sequel is good-natured, high-spirited and perfectly enjoyable if you take it for what it is. Read more

Tom Keogh, Seattle Times: Happily, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is a worthy follow-up that builds on its predecessor's successes and adds to them. Read more

Tasha Robinson, AV Club: The first Madagascar was surprisingly enjoyable, thanks to high energy and playfully dark material, but the returning writing-directing crew doesn't seem nearly as invested this time around. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Although there are some inspired bits, too often the movie takes what worked well in small doses in the original and beats them to death in the sequel. Read more

Janice Page, Boston Globe: If you own a TV, you will have heard the best laughs excerpted in unrelenting commercials leading up to the movie's release. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: The sequel, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, is a better film, though -- less manic, more easygoing. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: Emotionally and visually richer than its 2005 original. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: While Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa may offer hope to inter-species romance enthusiasts, for most adults it will simply serve as a way to keep the kids occupied. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is pretty tame, but it knows how to keep its own turf tidy. Read more

Nancy Churnin, Dallas Morning News: It's bad enough when sequels repeat the plot of their original movie. But it's serious chutzpah when the sequel cribs key plot points of another movie, as Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa does with The Lion King. Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: Typical tale of self-discovery, punctuated by genuine hilarity and top-flight animation. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Whenever we move away from their scenes -- sharp and quickly edited -- the film slows a bit. Whenever we skip to one of the main characters learning yet another life lesson, the fun begins to fade. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: There's not enough of the first movie's super-erudite monkeys. Yet the sitcom-style silliness is still there. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: A by-the-numbers follow-up to the highly successful 2005 feature that was no great shakes to begin with. Read more

David Germain, Associated Press: With so many characters to cram in and not much for many of them to do, Escape 2 Africa ends up a choppy, episodic affair. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: The animation shows glossy improvement from the original Madagascar, with nature and the neo-natural animals even more detailed than ever. But the knock on Dreamworks' animation style -- that it's entirely too talky -- rings true here. Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: Take the flat tire that was Madagascar. Retread it with The Lion King storyline. Pump it up with air. Now you have Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: One reason to lament the existence of Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is too bemoan the considerable amount of talent that was tied up developing this uninspired sequel when it could have been employed in the service of something fresh and new. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: This is a brighter, more engaging film than the original Madagascar. Read more

Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle: The animation is sharp, and whenever things start to get confusing, a penguin or lemur comes onscreen and does something really funny. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: This mediocre sequel to the 2005 DreamWorks Animation hit doesn't offer much to engage minds that have moved beyond coloring books. Read more

Stephen Cole, Globe and Mail: Surprise, surprise, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is the rare sequel that is better than the original. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: It has everything Madagascar had three years ago, but also two things the original was woefully lacking: a good yarn and genuine yuks. Read more

Anna King, Time Out: You can't fault DreamWorks for including what Disney's animated tales conspicuously leave out -- gags pitched at adults. Plus, the CGI has improved since the first film, with animal fur being ruffled in all the right places. Read more

Derek Adams, Time Out: This is one of those rare occasions where the sequel is better than the original - but only by a whisker. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Though it doesn't add anything new to the genre, Madagascar 2 is amusing animated fare. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: A notable improvement on its predecessor in every department. Read more

Robert Wilonsky, Village Voice: Funniest movie of '08? Close enough, for those who don't mind monkeying around. Read more