Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

This article is dedicated to Bernie Mac (October 5, 1957 - August 9, 2008)

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (Also called Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa or simply known as Madagascar 2) is a 2008 American computer-animated comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation. As the sequel to the 2005 film Madagascar, it continues the adventures of Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe, and Gloria the Hippo. It was directed by Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath, with a screenplay written by Etan Cohen, Darnell, and McGrath. The voice actors Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, and Andy Richter return for the sequel, joined by Bernie Mac, Alec Baldwin, Sherri Shepherd, Elisa Gabrielli, and will.i.am.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa was released on November 7, 2008, by Paramount Pictures. It grossed $603.9 million on a $150 million budget, making it the sixth highest-grossing film of 2008, and won the 2009 Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Animated Movie. It was dedicated to Bernie Mac, who died before the film's release (by coincidence, another film of his, Soul Men, would be released on the same date as this film.). A sequel, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, was released in 2012.

Plot
Alex (Ben Stiller), Marty (Chris Rock), Gloria (Jada Pinkett Smith), Melman (David Schwimmer) and other zoo animals find a way to escape from Madagascar when the penguins reassemble a wrecked airplane. The precariously repaired craft stays airborne just long enough to make it to the African continent. There the New Yorkers encounter members of their own species for the first time. Africa proves to be a wild place, but Alex and company wonder if it is better than their Central Park home.

Why You'll Love It, Love It Indeed

 * 1) Nice animation that's a step up from the first movie.
 * 2) Just like the first, it takes advantage of it being an animated film and it leads to fast-paced animation and comedy.
 * 3) Some characters who only has very brief appearances in the first film are given more major roles like Nana, Mason, and Phil.
 * 4) The characters from the first film are still as likeable as always, despite having a few out of character moments.
 * 5) The new characters are great, like Zuba, Florrie (Alex's mother) and Moto Moto.
 * 6) The Penguins still steal the show per usual, especially with their lack of expertise on aviation.
 * 7) The opening prequel sequence is one of the best parts of the movie. In fact, by 2020, it spawned a prequel TV show, "Madagascar: A Little Wild", which is taken place before the first film.
 * 8) Lots of funny and hilarious moments, like the plane crash landing to Africa.
 * 9) Well written story that expands more adventures on the first film instead of rehashing it.
 * 10) Good voice acting. The new cast are also introduced, like Bernie Mac, Alec Baldwin, Sherri Shepherd, Elisa Gabrielli, and will.i.am.
 * 11) *This film features a posthumous performance from Bernie Mac (as one of his last roles prior to his death), who gave a great performance as Zuba, Alex's father.
 * 12) The Africa scenario looks stunning overall.
 * 13) Great soundtrack by Hans Zimmer and will.i.am, with the latter's cover of "I Like to Move It" still being a good standout.
 * 14) Unlike most sequels, especially in this case for unnecessary ones, this one continues the story of the first film and doesn't completely rehash it and is even funnier.
 * 15) The scenes with Moto Moto are very greatly done, thanks to his voice actor, will.i.am.
 * 16) Babies Alex, Marty, Gloria and Melman are adorable.
 * 17) "Look out, I think Moto Moto likes you!"

Bad Qualities

 * 1) For a movie aimed at Kids, it can get a bit creepy and dark at times.
 * 2) Like the previous movie, the story is a bit predictable.
 * 3) Although he does have his moments, Makunga is a pretty weak villain and practically a more comedic poor ripoff of Scar from The Lion King. Not only that, but despite being the main antagonist, he never even interacted with most other main characters except Alex.
 * 4) *On top of of BQ# 3, many people find this very similar to the aforementioned film.
 * 5) Plot hole: Alex has an Africa-shaped birthmark on his hand, which doesn't appear in the first film.
 * 6) Marty goes from a likeable caring sidekick in the first film to a selfish, unlikeable, and whiny jerk in this film due to the infamous scene where he’s mad at Alex for confusing him for another zebra and not caring about the humiliation Alex had to recently be put through earlier.
 * 7) King Julien and Maurice, while still likeable and entertaining, are a bit dumbed down in this movie. When they come across Melman in the dying hole, they don't even recognize him, to the point that Julien even introduces himself to him again, if I, King Julien... that's my name....only had two days left to live, despite the fact that Melman is their friend and has lived with them on their island for more than a year, making this out of character for them, especially Maurice, who is supposed to be King Julien's smart voice of reason. This makes them seem brainless, unlike other comic reliefs, like Sid from Ice Age, Donkey from Shrek, Dory from Finding Nemo, Mater from Cars, Olaf from Frozen and Ron Weasley from Harry Potter, who are goofy, yet have a lot of smart and wise moments and always recognize their friends (even Dory recognizes Marlin despite not remembering his name in the first movie). They also seem to not care for their friends at all, as they left Mort behind in Madagascar (even though that's kinda understandable, since Mort has a creepy obsession with Julien's feet and can be considered a stalker), tried to throw Melman at a volcano, believing his sacrifice would bring the water back to the reserve, and don't even join Marty, Melman, Gloria, the penguins and the chimpanzees in rescuing Alex and Zuba from Nana and the humans. However, they are still likeable and entertaining for the most part, unlike Julien's flanderized version from The Penguins of Madagascar series.
 * 8) *Speaking of which, Alex and the gang don't seem to care about Julien and Maurice either, even though they are their friends. When Julien and Maurice disappear from the plane during its crash, Alex and co. don't even care, when Kowalski says Two passengers unaccounted for, Skipper replies That's a number I can live with, and nobody shows any concern of any kind for their safety.

Reception
The film received generally mixed to positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 63% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on 153 reviews, with the consensus view that the film was "an improvement on the original, with more fleshed-out characters, crisper animation and more consistent humor," and with an average rating of 5.9/10. Another review aggregator, Metacritic classified the film into the "generally favorable reviews" category with 61/100 approval rating based on 25 reviews, also a bit higher a score than the original.

Trailers
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Reviews
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Trivia

 * This was DreamWorks' first non-Shrek sequel.


 * In the first teaser trailer, which was released in March 2008, the film was subtitled with The Crate Escape. By June 2008, the film was given its final title – Escape 2 Africa.
 * Spawned the Moto Moto meme