Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (also simply known as Madagascar 3) is a 2012 American 3D computer-animated comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is the third installment of the Madagascar franchise and the sequel to Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008). It is also the first in the series to be released in 3D. Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted made its world premiere at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 2012, and was released in the United States on June 8.

Plot
Animal pals Alex (Ben Stiller), Marty (Chris Rock), Melman (David Schwimmer) and Gloria (Jada Pinkett Smith) are still trying to make it back to New York's Central Park Zoo. They are forced to take a detour to Europe to find the penguins and chimps who broke the bank at a Monte Carlo casino. When French animal-control officer Capitaine Chantel DuBois (Frances McDormand) picks up their scent and plans to kill them, Alex and company are forced to hide out in a traveling circus. During this time, the group learn where their true home really is.

Why It Can Do The Impossible

 * 1) It still retains the charm of its predecessor.
 * 2) Great animation that is a step-up from the previous films; same goes for the humor.
 * 3) In terms of the visuals, the true cream of the crop is the circus sequence in London, with every individual act flowing perfectly, making for probably the most visually interesting scene in the entire trilogy.
 * 4) The characters from the previous films are still likable.
 * 5) It is one of the DreamWorks Animation's third movie that didn't get caught in a downward spiral (or sequelitis), rather it improved on the prior two movies.
 * 6) A unique and great plot twist where Alex and company realize that they've grown too much in spirit to live back in captivity and Chantel Dubois didn't want the money for capturing animals.
 * 7) Chantel Dubois is a hysterical, but still threatening villain, especially with how unhinged and hellbent she is on obtaining Alex's head.
 * 8) The Penguins are still stealing the show once again much like they did in the previous two Madagascar movies.
 * 9) It has good messages about loyalty, friendship, what it means to be free and not allowing past mistakes to get in the way of being bold and trying again.
 * 10) Entertaining action sequences that makes fun to watch, most notably the car chase scene in Monte Carlo.
 * 11) The movie is not a rehash, it is much different from its two predecessors; for example, the main antagonist(s) (Chantel Dubois & co.) are humans instead of mostly animals (Foosas, Nana, Makunga) and the movie takes place in more than two locations (mostly in Europe and Monte Carlo).
 * 12) Great voice acting, much like the first two films, including the newcomers of Jessica Chastain, Bryan Cranston, Martin Short, and Frances McDormand.
 * 13) Good soundtrack, especially the Afro Circus/I Like To Move It mashup.
 * 14) The scene where Chantel Dubois sings "Non Je Ne Regrette Rien" is very entertaining.
 * 15) Vitaly has a very emotional backstory.
 * 16) "Ra da da da da da da da Circus! Da da da da da da da da Afro! Circus, Afro Circus, Afro! Polka dot, polka dot, polka dot, Afro!".
 * 17) Fireworks, one of Katy Perry's most famous songs, connects well with the performance in London.
 * 18) It has great chemistry and development from the characters.
 * 19) Vitaly, Stefano, and Gia are pretty fun, likable and entertaining new characters.
 * 20) The ending is very satisfying, with DuBois defeated and the animals teaming up for a global tour.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The opening scene where Alex has a nightmare is very disturbing for a kids' movie, as well as the scene where King Julien, Mort and Maurice go to a wagon on the train where they met Sonya.
 * 2) The story is a bit more predictable than the other movies, as it builds up the "Liar Revealed" cliche. However, this plot isn't really focused on that much and actually makes sense.
 * 3) Some scenes contain gross-out humor, like Mort puking out cake icing and a kid getting stuck in an elephant's butt.
 * 4) Despite that the film begins at Africa, neither Zuba or Florrie are seen nor mentioned and don't even seem to exist anymore in spite of their major role in the previous film. While some speculate that this was done because of Bernie Mac's death, the role of Zuba could have been easily recast aside that Sherri Sheperd could have still reprised her role as Florrie, because it's kinda strange that Alex decided to leave Africa without even saying goodbye to his parents first.
 * 5) Due to the film being noticably rendered in 3D, all the close-up effects can get uncomfortable in a 2D viewing.
 * 6) The Dancing Dogs are jerks and annoying since they always fight instead of dancing, which isn't useful to the crew either.

Reception
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted received generally positive reviews by critics and audiences. Based on 130 reviews, the film holds an approval rating of 78% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes and an average rating of 6.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Dazzlingly colorful and frenetic, Madagascar 3 is silly enough for young kids, but boasts enough surprising smarts to engage parents along the way.". This marks the best general review consensus of the film series that has showed improving critical favor; the original film has a score of 55%, and the sequel scores 64%. On Metacritic, it holds a score of 60 out of 100 based on 26 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Trivia

 * A significant amount of the animation and visual effects for the film had been done at DreamWorks Dedicated Unit, an India-based unit at Technicolor.