Review #1,176: 'Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted' (2012)

A distinct lack of charm and originality have never been criticisms to inspire a studio to scrap a billion dollar franchise in favour of doing something a little more worthwhile, so Alex the lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer) and Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) return four years after their detour to Africa for another continent-spanning adventure, this time in Europe. This third entry into the hugely successful franchise packs so much colour, noise and incident into its 90 minute running time that the issues with the first two films - which are still present here - are reduced to a mere afterthought. To my utter surprise, Europe's Most Wanted is actually quite fun.

Bored with Africa and longing for their home in New York, the anthropomorphic foursome take sail to Monte Carlo, where the penguins and primates have already made themselves at home. An incident in a casino leads to a vicious, game-hunting animal control worker named Chantal DuBois (Frances McDormand) chasing them across the city. As the authorities close in, the group make a break for it by hopping on a circus train, where they are met with resistance by a bitter, once-famous performer Vitaly the Siberian tiger (Bryan Cranston), but welcomed by the doe-eyed jaguar Gia (Jessica Chastain) and the optimistic sea lion Stefano (Martin Short). With the circus lacking inspiration with a tired act, Alex and co. come up with a plan to reinvigorate the show as they tour Europe, in the hope of making enough money to get them home.

Making up for the blocky, uninspired animation of the previous movies, Madagascar 3 is a feast for the eyes, really coming to life during the physics-defying, laser-filled circus shows. The script is slightly more sophisticated, which is possibly due to the involvement of Noah Baumbach, yet the characters still need to compensate for the lack of actual jokes by shouting nonsense or falling over. As for the newcomers, they are infinitely more engaging than the stock long-lost family members from part 2, with Cranston clearly revelling in the chance to do a ridiculous Russian accent, and Chastain purring it up as the love interest. However, the biggest impression is left by a character who doesn't speak at all; a giant female bear (the growls are performed by Frank Welker) who forms a weird romantic relationship with King Julien (Sacha Baron Cohen) in the movie's most endearing transgressive move. The narrative is packed with problems, but the whole thing whizzes by far too fast to care.


Directed by: Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath, Conrad Vernon
Voices: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Frances McDormand, Jessica Chastain
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,171: 'Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa' (2008)

When an animated family film unexpectedly strikes a chord with its young audience and develops into an unexpected hit, as was the case with 2005's Madagascar, the most common problem faced with the inevitable sequel is where to take its collection of rag-tag anthropomorphic heroes next. The original's premise was relocating a bunch of animal characters who had been raised in a New York zoo to be adored by the paying customers to the less-welcoming island of Madagascar. It was a promising idea, but the film fell flat thanks to some blocky animation and a lack of imagination and jokes. With the first sequel, returning directors Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath have pulled the same trick again, only this time dumping its hapless entourage onto the brutal plains of Africa, with Hollywood again apparently forgetting that Africa is a continent, not a country.

After the adventure on Madagascar, zoo animals Alex (Ben Stiller), Marty (Chris Rock), Melman (David Schwimmer), Gloria (Jada Pinkett Smith) and a small group of militaristic penguins have fixed the crashed plane and are readying to fly back home. Also joined by unhinged lemur King Julien (Sacha Baron Cohen), they crash again in Africa after running out of fuel, and eventually find themselves at a watering hole, where they are overjoyed to discover more of their own species. Alex also reunites with his mother (Sherri Shepherd) and father Zuma (Bernie Mac), with the latter the alpha of his herd. While the others are each given roles in their animal society, Alex must prove himself to be worthy of his position of heir and title of  'King of New York', while fellow lion Makunga (Alec Baldwin) waits eagerly to take control.

It's a very similar route taken by Ice Age and their increasingly tedious sequels. When the big idea has been used up, simply introduce a long-lost family member and give the comic relief side-kicks their own meandering side-stories. Melman, due to his hypochondria, becomes the village's witch-doctor; Marty struggles to stand out in a herd that looks and talks in the exact same way as he does; and Gloria is courted by a douchebag while she misses the true love right in front of her eyes. The only relief on offer is when the penguins are on screen, and their extreme competency with any given task and frequent bashing of an annoying old lady never fails to raise a chuckle. When they're not the focus, we are stuck with the incredibly uninteresting Alex and a bunch of generic life lessons for the kids watching. If you were content with the little charm of the first Madagascar, then chances are you'll find something to like her. For the rest of us, this is a slow trudge through familiar ground chocked full with broad slapstick prat-falls.


Directed by: Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath
Voices: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Bernie Mac, Alec Baldwin
Country: USA

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,030: 'Zoolander 2' (2016)

Way back in 2001, Ben Stiller's original Zoolander was little more than an extended Saturday Night Live sketch, stretched out for 90 minutes of hit-and-miss comedy. Despite the wafer-thin premise of lampooning the fashion industry and the shallow celebrities who inhabit it, there was a clumsy charm about it and much fun to be had with its loose, zany approach. 15 years on and Stiller delivers a sequel that nobody was really asking for, and the movie's awareness of the first's quotable, make-it-up-as-we-go-along dialogue and unapologetic daftness is ultimately its downfall. That, and being painfully unfunny.

The movie's opening sequence informs us that Derek Zoolander's Centre for Kids who Can't Read Good and Wanna Learn to do Other Stuff Good Too collapsed in a disaster after being built using the same materials used to build the small-scale model, killing his wife Matilda (Christine Taylor) and damaging the beautiful face of his old friend Hansel (Owen Wilson). His child is eventually taken away from him when his parental skills are called into question, so Zoolander retreats into the frozen wasteland of New Jersey and turns his back on the fashion industry. Hansel has also retired, choosing instead to spend his time in the deserts of Malibu with his orgy of 11 fellow sex fiends, all of whom he has impregnated (including Kiefer Sutherland).

When Billy Zane arrives with their Neflix orders, he persuades them to return to the catwalk for ultra-hip designer Don Atari (Kyle Mooney), an annoying yet on-the-nose hipster who hates stuff because he loves them and vice versa. This is not the only plot thread in this convoluted mess of a film, as the tale of Zoolander braving a return to the world he feels he no longer has a place in was the exact same plot as the first film. We also have new villain Alexanya Atoz (Kristen Wiig), the return of Mugatu (Will Ferrell), Interpol agent Valentina Valencia (Penelope Cruz) who is tracking Zoolander and Hansel to help investigate the murders of music celebrities, some mythological nonsense about the Fountain of Youth, and the horrifying revelation that Zoolander's now-teenage son is, yes, fat and ugly.

It took four writers - Stiller, Justin Theroux, Nicholas Stoller and John Hamburg - to pen the movie and 15 years to think about it, and a tedious merry-go-round of re-hashed jokes, shoehorned celebrity cameos and eye-rolling innuendos ("Jack Ryan and Jack Reacher? Tonight is gonna be a total Jack-off!") is quite unbelievably the best they could come up with. By the time Mugatu arrives and the climax kicks into gear, you'll still be waiting for everything to somehow make sense. Up to this point, the most fun there is to be had is trying to spot all the famous faces (the funniest and most bizarre is a barely recognisable Benedict Cumberbarch) while Zoolander is left scratching his head trying to integrate into a world now so overcome by self-obsession. To make this point, we are made to suffer through endless social media gags that feel like the ramblings of a man trying desperately to fit in with the cool crowd. Even if you love the original, avoid at all costs.


Directed by: Ben Stiller
Starring: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Penélope Cruz, Will Ferrell, Kristen Wiig, Kyle Mooney
Country: USA

Rating: *

Tom Gillespie

Review #406: 'Madagascar' (2005)

At Central Park Zoo in New York, Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock) hears about the 'wild' from some tunnelling penguins whilst celebrating his tenth birthday. Longing to see the world outside the zoo, Marty runs off to see the sights of the city. Thinking he has escaped for good, Marty's friends Alex the lion (Ben Stiller), Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer), and Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) go after him to bring him back. Mistaking their escape for a desperate plea for freedom, the humans at the zoo ship them off to Africa where a series of mishaps sees them washed up on the shore of Madagascar. The island is ran by lemur Julien (Sacha Baron Cohen), who labels the newcomers as their saviours after Alex unwittingly chases off a pack of hyenas. Yet with no-one there to feed him his daily steaks, Alex finds his primal instincts begin to take over.

Running at around 82 minutes, I only really watched this film as I was tired and fancied something quick, breezy and amusing to see me off the sleep. Well, it was certainly quick and breezy. Like many other Dreamworks animation films, Madagascar finds its comedy in uninspired slapstick and pop culture references, and here is its biggest problem. While the superior Pixar produces films regularly that both children and adults can thoroughly enjoy (and includes some inspired comedy to boot), I tend not to find Dreamworks output actually funny. Here, films references include the likes of American Beauty (1999), Planet of the Apes (1968) and Chariots of Fire (1981) and come across as a lazy way of not actually writing something intelligent (all the jokes have been done before, and better).

One thing that is always up to scratch with Dreamworks is the animation. It perhaps may not be as beautiful as, say, WALL-E (2008), but Shrek (2001) was a charming mix of fairy-tale and the old-fashioned, while the big, bright colours of Kung Fu Panda (2008) evolved into something far more impressive in its sequel. But in Madagascar, the characters are blocky and charmless, and the backgrounds are often still and empty. The story of a bunch of city-animals trying to make it in the wild is ripe with possibilities, but the film remains relatively un-eventful and builds up to a blink-it-or-you'll-miss-it climax. A major disappointment given the voice talent involved, and is only worth watching for Baron Cohen's semi-improvised, self-worshipping King Julien.


Directed by: Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath
Voices: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen
Country: USA

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie

Review #129: 'Zoolander' (2001)

Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller) is a slow-witted fashion model who is known for his 'Blue Steel' look, and has dominated the industry for years. When the new kid on the block, Hansel (Owen Wilson), starts taking the attention away from Zoolander, and journalist Matilda (Stiller's wife Christine Taylor) writes a mocking piece on him, Zoolander considers retirement. He travels back home to work in the coal pits with his father (Jon Voight) and brothers (Vince Vaughn and Judah Friedlander) but they reject him due to his fashion antics and general uselessness in the pits. Meanwhile, fashion giant Jacobim Mugatu (Will Ferrell) is coming up with a plan to assassinate the Prime Minister of Malaysia, and feels that Zoolander is just stupid enough to be the hit-man.

I've never really been a fan of the work of Stiller and his usual troupe. While his films are generally entertaining, I just don't find them that funny. Zoolander, though not exactly a classic, is possibly his best, being frequently funny, silly, and most important of all, fun. For all it's prat-falls and ridiculous costumes, it is actually a pretty damn accurate send-up of the fashion industry. Many a time I've been forced to sit through the likes of America's Next Top Model and whatever new shit Gok Wan has come up with (I detest that man with every fabric of my being), and it is really this ridiculous.

The cleverist moment of the film is when Mugatu announces his new fashion show, called Derelicte, spinning fashion out of the bums and hobo's that roam the streets. It's just the type of pretentious and shallow thing that happens in fashion all the time, taking its influences from the unfortunate and putting it's own naive and clueless fingers all over it. Anyway, that's enough about my hatred for the fashion industry, now for the actual film.

Zoolander has the thing that seems to missing from Stiller's usual films, which is sweetness. As gay as that sounds, it helps elevate the likes of Judd Apatow's films above others, and helps you actually care about the film rather than it being played just for laughs. Tropic Thunder (2008) and Dogeball: A True Underdog Story (2004) certainly tried, and ultimately failed. Although Zoolander is a shallow idiot, he is certainly loveable. And as Hansel, the always-watchable Owen Wilson is just a dim-witted. When the two settle their rivalry and team up, there is plenty of chemistry. Watching them both giggle like children when talking about bulimia is a scene where if handled badly, could have been uncomfortable, but the scene is possibly the funniest in the film.

Yes, it follows the same path as many other a comedy, and some of the jokes fail to hit the mark. But it's fun, entertaining, and features a handful of solid comedy performances. And, as ever, Will Ferrell steals the show as a manically over-the-top designer.


Directed by: Ben Stiller
Starring: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Christine Taylor, Will Ferrell, Milla Jovovich, Jerry Stiller, Jon Voight, David Duchovny
Country: USA/Australia/Germany

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie