Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2012)

i must have seen a different film!!

Admirable film.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

This was a good movie that is entertaining for kids watching with their children. The haters of this film must be lonely adults because it's not a marvel film. Actually liked this one more than the second one.

This is the third "Madagascar" film, a sequel to the sequel, continuing the story of the four animals of the New York Zoo that went to Africa in the first two films. In this one, in an unbelievable way, they end up going to Europe where they get into trouble with Monaco's animal control before entering a travelling circus. One of the most interesting things about animated cinema is the great creative freedom it allows. However, there are plausible limits that should not be exceeded, otherwise the film will be totally absurd. "Madagascar 3" goes far beyond them. I recognize that it has a lot of funny moments but the script is absolutely predictable, annoying and implausible. The villain never seemed good, being a heap of clichés and francophone prejudices of remarkable bad taste. The four central characters also lose interest, especially Marty (the zebra) and Gloria (the hippo), seconded by the protagonism given to the new participants. On a technical level, it is impeccable: the animations are excellent, the voice actors (still appreciably inherited from the two previous films) do a great job and the film is visually beautiful. It has a positive thing: it goes back to the music and the songs, much despised in the previous film, but they are rather weak, the one that I liked the most was a comic imitation of "Je ne regrette rien", Edith Piaf's original.

The movie starts out as always, with Alex and the gang stuck and wishing to go to another place (It may it be adventurous as in the first movie or just a return to home like in the second).Warning: the following contains spoilers!The penguins left Alex, Marty, Melman and Gloria in Africa to go to Monte Carlo to gamble and win big. The naive Alex believes that they will come back and suddenly realizes what Marty, Gloria and Melman had realized a long time ago – the penguins and monkeys are not returning. Their big idea is to go to Monte Carlo and find the penguins to make them apologize for deserting them. With hilarious scenes that even the most serious adult couldn't help laughing to, the animals meet up with the penguins only to find them fleeing from French Captain Chantel Dubois, who happens to be a relentlessly persistent animal hunter. Cornered by the captain, the animals board a circus train in hopes of once returning back home in New York. Aboard the train, we meet the Russian tiger Vitaly (voiced amazingly by Bryan Cranston), a former circus star who was scarred forever- literally. Alex falls in love with Gia, an aspiring acrobatic, Marty meets a shy and not so bright friend seal called Stefano (brilliantly voiced by Martin Short), and Gloria and Melman become more romantically involved.The movie was actually very captivating, with little innuendos that only older kids and adults would understand. Sure, the movie does overplay the "afro-circus" bit we've all seen from the commercial, but nonetheless, it was entertaining. And what would be a Madagascar movie without "I Like To Move It!"The movie does seem to be more of an 8+ movie, and I, as well as any parent there, was surprised when Vitaly said, "Bolshevik," clearly thinking that other, not-so-childish word. I'm not saying that you shouldn't bring a 5-year-old to see it, but I personally believe it becomes funnier when you do understand the implications that the screenwriters included in there. Anything from "What's New Pussycat" to The Matrix is included in this film, leaving you somehow feeling superior to the kids who don't understand any of it. (Even though that sounds harsher and weirder than what it really is). This movie plays on all your emotions, leaving you a helpless romantic with Alex and Gia or even with Gloria and Melman. It makes you yearn to learn more about Vitaly's past, and in fact, it leaves you upset when you finally do learn about his past. It also leaves you feeling just a little bit sad when you realize just how bright (or not) Stefano really is.But most of all, I think it's the subtle details that leave you in awe and laughing. The smile on Mort's face when King Julian "dies" or the color effects of the body paints used in the circus. Sure, there are some slow parts, and I am not saying you should go miss something important to see this movie, but you should go see it if you are in need of something to do. Also, although sequels (and threequels in this case) usually tend to do worse than the first one, this one did definitely better than the second one – and might actually surpass the first – and then you start wondering just how many story lines can be made out of trying to return home.

I know this is coming in late but my kids just got this as a gift and we've watched it a few times now. I think the whole movie summarizes nicely when the animals finally get their wish by returning to the NY zoo only to realize that its not what they really want, having experienced all that they have with their travels. Being zoo animals all along only hindered their growth and never would have given them the experiences they shared between each other and with the other characters. Each of the M-animals find "true" happiness and Dubois gets served justly. I think some of the "show stealing" moments are by Stefano's facial expressions (in particular when he is in the train car eagerly waiting for Alex's description of his American circus routine), Dubois crashing through the office building walls pursuing the animals, the way the bear drives the motorcycle flipping every where, and the scene where the French animal police are in a recovery room and bust their casts as Dubois sings. Yeah, it's only a cartoon but...just how does a large Siberian tiger fit through a tiny ring? Hilarious!