FA+
Shop
Madagascar 3 - No Spoilers
13 years ago
General
A lot of my friends know that I am a HUGE Alex the lion fan. I've had a crush on him since the first movie. I remember walking out of the theatre with my mate Lancer and telling him my interest in him. Good laughs were had. So now, with the third movie released I had to see it opening day.
I found it a disappointment.
With that said, it is a Dreamworks movie so there is a certain quality you can expect from it. But because it was a Dreamworks movie, I held it to a high standard that they rarely ever disappoint for me. Alas this one has, for me. Lancer on the other hand, enjoyed the film. If you are interested in it I would say to see it. But for me, once was enough. Now that I let the movie sit over night I think I can speak as to why I felt the movie wasn't on par.
The soundtrack wasn't as strong on this one. Hans Zimmer once again creates some beautiful pieces but in this installment the number of tracks is lacking. Instead they opt for current music which isn't a shock as pop culture is normal for Madagascar. However originality isn't in the tracks as it was in the past.
I also have a personal dislike for Katy Perry and the song Fireworks was in one of the more major scenes. Dreamworks did well with the animation with the music, but it made me groan inside and kept me from enjoying the scene. Then again, if "Circus Afro" is the best original song they could come up with, perhaps its for the best they left the music to others.
I felt the story was drawn out and not much was accomplished. If not that at times it seemed rushed. Three new characters were given a good deal of screen time. A sea lion, tiger and.. some other feline. I don't remember if they even said what she was. The males were a nice addition but the female, I think they could have done more with her. I wanted to like her but they don't talk much about her. Nor did they with the sea lion but with him that seemed ok.
There is a new romance, two actually. Which is one thing that bothers me. That they HAVE to shove romance into the movie and in so, having to push the characters out of acting naturally to the degree of a fanfic. It seemed rushed from one location to the other in the beginning as well. And you might notice a moment of déjà vu too. The main villain I felt was unnecessary and wasted time that could have been better spent on the story and character development. The main cast is fully developed. But in this new surrounding, the circus, and the new faces I felt could have been better done if the time was devoted there.
Aside from the forced romance, I felt the characters did well to hold up as before. How the movie ends however, it makes me wonder what they could possibly do for the next film. As this seems to finish a major story, if they are to stay true to what they said before and make a fourth movie then the only thing I can think of for them to do is pop out some kids. The humor of the film wasn't as strong to me. I remember people complaining about the humor in the last few movies however I enjoyed those. This installment got a few laughs, but those laughs were excellent ones. The majority of the jokes were "Meh", however my mate Lancer seemed to enjoy them. So this is likely a case where you can't please everyone.
All in all, if you're interested it's worth a look. But for me, it's one I would like to forget.
I found it a disappointment.
With that said, it is a Dreamworks movie so there is a certain quality you can expect from it. But because it was a Dreamworks movie, I held it to a high standard that they rarely ever disappoint for me. Alas this one has, for me. Lancer on the other hand, enjoyed the film. If you are interested in it I would say to see it. But for me, once was enough. Now that I let the movie sit over night I think I can speak as to why I felt the movie wasn't on par.
The soundtrack wasn't as strong on this one. Hans Zimmer once again creates some beautiful pieces but in this installment the number of tracks is lacking. Instead they opt for current music which isn't a shock as pop culture is normal for Madagascar. However originality isn't in the tracks as it was in the past.
I also have a personal dislike for Katy Perry and the song Fireworks was in one of the more major scenes. Dreamworks did well with the animation with the music, but it made me groan inside and kept me from enjoying the scene. Then again, if "Circus Afro" is the best original song they could come up with, perhaps its for the best they left the music to others.
I felt the story was drawn out and not much was accomplished. If not that at times it seemed rushed. Three new characters were given a good deal of screen time. A sea lion, tiger and.. some other feline. I don't remember if they even said what she was. The males were a nice addition but the female, I think they could have done more with her. I wanted to like her but they don't talk much about her. Nor did they with the sea lion but with him that seemed ok.
There is a new romance, two actually. Which is one thing that bothers me. That they HAVE to shove romance into the movie and in so, having to push the characters out of acting naturally to the degree of a fanfic. It seemed rushed from one location to the other in the beginning as well. And you might notice a moment of déjà vu too. The main villain I felt was unnecessary and wasted time that could have been better spent on the story and character development. The main cast is fully developed. But in this new surrounding, the circus, and the new faces I felt could have been better done if the time was devoted there.
Aside from the forced romance, I felt the characters did well to hold up as before. How the movie ends however, it makes me wonder what they could possibly do for the next film. As this seems to finish a major story, if they are to stay true to what they said before and make a fourth movie then the only thing I can think of for them to do is pop out some kids. The humor of the film wasn't as strong to me. I remember people complaining about the humor in the last few movies however I enjoyed those. This installment got a few laughs, but those laughs were excellent ones. The majority of the jokes were "Meh", however my mate Lancer seemed to enjoy them. So this is likely a case where you can't please everyone.
All in all, if you're interested it's worth a look. But for me, it's one I would like to forget.
As much as I liked the first and thought the second was ok, I've not been very eager for this third iteration. Personally I'd love to see a sequel to The Wild :3
As for the genders, I don't remember having a problem with it but it was nice not to go so clearly female with with female characters.
As for the forced romance, I have to agree. Alex and Gia, the jaguar, seemed way too rushed. I had a feeling that you would be rather pissed off about it, but not for the reason you stated. Knowing how much of a HUGE Alex fan you are, I wouldn't be surprised if you were displeased that they put him in a strictly heterosexual relationship... which isn't realistic in the slightest, considering that there have been a lot of documented cases of homosexuality in the animal kingdom. As for Gloria and Melman, which I'm assuming is the second romance you're referring to... that was established in the second movie, believe it or not.
I... honestly found the villain to be quite terrifying. You know what they say about people and perfect records... they'll do anything to keep them. For her to go to the extremes she did wasn't surprising, but it was still scary. It's not often you see in movies the type of villain that acts more than talks, and will stop at nothing to get what they want. I think the last villain to scare me like that was, ironically, Tai Lung from Kung Fu Panda, another Dreamworks film.
The soundtrack, I agree, wasn't that strong. Firework actually did well for the scene in question, and I'm not a huge fan of Katy Perry myself, but that song stands out for some reason. They seemed to rely a lot more on songs that were already written, whereas in the second movie they had a lot of original tracks. It was lacking at times.
The humor... well, let's just say I loved how they went full circle, so to speak, with what happened at the end. I'm not going to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it, so they can find out for themselves.
Overall, I enjoyed the third movie, as did Synjo. I'm sorry to hear you didn't; I honestly thought, walking out of the theater, that you'd get a kick out of it. Eh, like you said, you can't please everyone. I guess this was just one of those things.
I'm a bit Dreamworks fan too, not sure about some of there upcoming movies [Legends of the guardians, Peabody and sherman etc] but excited for "How to train your Dragon 2"
I too am excited for How to train your Dragon 2! ^^
Yeah I wonder if they might put How to Train your Dragon 2 back in case it looks like they're copying/cashing in on Disneys "Brave" [As its a similar theme]
Jeffrey Katzenberg (DreamWorks Animation CEO) has stated that there is likely to be a fourth installment to the series.
I thought it was pretty cool - some good laughs throughout - perhaps sometimes a little cheaper than you'd expect...
Good review with no spoilers, though! Did you see it in 3D? I highly recommend you do if you haven't, IMO. 3D is becoming much less gimmicky these days.
Open Season 3 was based around romance/a circus as well.