No theme. Extremely funny.
Is there anything else to say? The rest of this review will just expound on those four words. From a critcial reviewer's standpoint, this film is not a piece of literary greatness, and it won't win very many Academy Awards. And while there is a continuous, unfolding, inter-related storyline (unlike, say, Napoelon Dynamite), there's not really any point to it. There's no relevant moral or theme or overall statement. The ending isn't really a concluding resolution of a climax. In fact, I'm not really sure what the climax is.
That said, there are still parts of the story that are compelling and interesting. Will the animals escape to the wild? Will Alex succumb to his carnivorous instincts? Will they get along or draw lines in the sand and argue over who's on the fun side of the island? There may be no purpose to the plot, but there is definitely a plot.
However, the real purpose of the movie is one word only: funny. And funny it is. The majority of the humor is not stupid funny (a.k.a. Napoleon), or crude funny (a.k.a. Shrek), or witty funny (a.k.a. a piece of literary greatness), but *drum roll* RANDOM FUNNY, which can produce the greatest laughs of the four kinds, because it is totally unpredictable, yet is still just as entertaining the second time around.
This category does not only include random and unexpected acts and events, such as an old lady beating up the lion with her purse or the giraffe getting stuck in a box because of his unfortunate propotions. The Random Funny category also includes random and unexpected personalities, such as the Mafia penguins with their escape plots or the distinguished British monkeys that want to throw poo. Random personalities can be exploited for multiple laughs with each appearance of the characters, and Madagascar exploits it well.
In other words, Madagascar avoids overly using stupid, cheezy, lame or crude humor, and goes for the random humor that kept me laughing almost the entire time. I won't give everything away, but I will say that if you can watch lemurs dance to techno and not break out into hilarious fits of laughter, then save your money. But if you like random humor, Madagascar is totally worth it.
Edmond the Hun
1 comment:
:D I heartily concur!! Honestly, who doesn't enjoy throwing poo? Who doesn't like to move it move it? ;) Anyways, as for the climax, my guess would be when Alex goes bad...? That's the point of highest excitement plotwise anyway, but you're right, a true climax is hard to pinpoint. Maybe that's what makes it so good... -Sanguine
Post a Comment