Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

A follow-up to DreamWorks' hugely successful 2005 animated feature, this sequel finds our favorite talking animals from the Central Park Zoo—Alex the dancing lion (voiced by Ben Stiller), Marty the wise-cracking zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the neurotic giraffe (David Schwimmer), and Gloria the lovesick hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith)—stranded in Madagascar, trying to get back to the U.S. on a badly damaged plane, hastily and ineffectually repaired by their penguin friends. The aircraft only makes it as far as the African nature preserve from which Alex was stolen, but that gives him the opportunity to reunite with his dad (the late Bernie Mac) and mom (Sherri Shepherd), before ensuing tumult finds the entire family being expelled from the preserve. Other subplots revolve around a serious drought and a three-cornered romance involving Melman, Gloria, and a hefty hippo (will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas), while Sasha Baron Cohen—playing King Julien the Lemur—generates some laughs with his campy antics. All in all, filmmakers Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath's Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is a fairly uninspired by-the-numbers effort, although it will appeal to the target audience. A strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by directors/co-writers Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath, and producers Mireille Soria and Mark Swift, an 11-minute “making-of” featurette, an “It's a Family Affair” cast featurette (9 min.), the production featurettes “African Adventure” (7 min.), “Crash Landing” (4 min.), and “Jambo Jambo: Swahili Speak” (2 min.), four music videos, the DreamWorks Animation Jukebox, the “Test Flight of Air Penguin” game, and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is a picture-in-picture “The Animator's Corner” track with storyboards and interviews, a trivia track, and the BD Live function. In addition, the Blu-ray includes “The Penguins of Madagascar” with two short films on the penguin characters (24 min.), a featurette on “The Bronx Zoo: Madagascar” exhibit (9 min.), and an “Alex Dance Off” featurette (3 min.), all of which is also available on a separate DVD in the two-pack Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa/The Penguins of Madagascar set. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a run of the mill sequel.] (E. Hulse)