Madagascar 3: Paramount's Most Funny

Okay, I'm sort of cheating on my own rules here as I just attended the media screening for Madagascar 3 today, and although I think it's the best of the series, it's still no Disney/Pixar film and I'm not obsessed with it.  However, this is the second time I've seen the movie (having participated in an audience reaction screening back in January 2012) so with the exception of a few frames of film that were not completed, I knew what I was in for and I still attended the media screening.  That has to account for something, right?

And since some of you readers have appreciated my thoughts on films I've viewed in advance, I thought I'd give my two cents before you decide to spend (or blow - depending how you like the movie) your hard earned money.  And because I'm obsessed with my readers, I can write this post because I'm thinking of your well-being.  There! That's my angle.

First, the blah-blah-blah:   Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted:  Alex (Ben Stiller), Marty (Chris Rock), Gloria (Jada Pinkett-Smith) and Melman (David Schwimmer) are still fighting to get home to their beloved Big Apple.  Their journey takes them through Europe where they find the perfect cover: a traveling circus, which they reinvent - Madagascar style.

Yes, all the originals are back plus a few new characters from the aforementioned traveling circus, including Bryan Cranston (Malcolm in the Middle, Breaking Bad) as the Italian seal Vitaly and Jessica Chastain (The Help, The Tree of Life) as the cougar (maybe cheetah) Gia.  But my favorite newcomer and the character that steels the show for me is the villainess Captain Chantel DuBois, voiced by the fantastic Frances McDormand, who will stop at nothing - and I mean NOTHING - to claim her prize.

Now, I'm not a big fan of the Madagascar franchise at all.  In fact, I only saw the first two once because I did not think they were worth watching a second time, however not only do I find this to be the most entertaining in the trilogy, but the funniest as well.  Sure, it gets slow in the middle (sometimes painfully so) but overall it is a good time that should be enjoyable to both kids and their parents. 

But be warned... the songs in this film are highly contagious.  Don't be surprised if my next, "I Can't Get XYZ Out Of My Head!" is a song from this film.  Yikes!