Free n’ Wild

The movie is real funny and the show stealers are Sid and Scrat (a…err…saber-toothed squirrel? He’s kind of half-squirrel half-rat, and hence the name, I guess) especially Scrat even with the short appearances he makes now and then. The pun in the dialogues is hilarious. Overall, a great, wholesome entertainer. Am eagerly awaiting it’s sequel, Ice Age 2: The Meltdown, which is to come out this summer.

Few days back I watched Madagascar, yet another animated movie, this time from the makers of Shrek and Shark Tale. Yes, am an animated movie enthusiast too…heehee. Well, basically, am an animator, you know. Anyways, if Ice Age showed the “humane” side of the animals (or maybe it’s the “animale” side), Madagascar in a way deals with the inhumane side of humans. Maybe not directly, but it sure does, I feel.

So, what’s the plot? It’s about 4 animals, best of friends. Alex the lion (voiced by Ben Stiller) is living large on steak and applause at New York’s Central Park Zoo. The same goes for Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) and Melman the hypochondriac giraffe (David Schwimmer, who is annoyingly whiny. Well, that’s the character). The only complaints come from Marty the zebra (Chris Rock) who always dreams of the wild, the world beyond the fences of the zoo. A bunch of penguins successfully break out of the zoo in the hopes of reaching Antarctica. This prompts the zebra to realize that he could visit his wild roots and he breaks out of the zoo on his 10th birthday. His three friends break out as well in the hopes of returning him to the zoo. Things go wrong. The escape bid is seen by us simple-minded humans as a sign that the animals desire to return to their natural habitat and soon the bunch of “don’t-know-what’s-wilderness” wild animals are boxed and shipped by animal rights people, to be released…where else…in the wild. But a series of unfortunate events ends with them getting thrown overboard, into the sea, in the boxes. And that’s how the animals hit tropical Madagascar, ruled by King Julien XIII, a lemur (hilariously voiced by Sacha Baron Cohen). And then the trouble starts. The king enlists the “New York Giants” to scare off the predatory Foosa. But Alex, his own lion instincts aroused by starving and missing his fav steaks, digs his teeth into Marty’s butt. He’ll take his steak where he can get it.

The movie wasn’t up to my expectations, as someone made me expect a little more than it delivered. Like one of the reviews online says,

Less like Shrek, meaning hilarious and heartfelt, and more like Shark Tale, meaning manic and exhausting, Madagascar will keep kids distracted without transporting them to wonderland. Unlike recent age-crossing animated goodies, Madagascar is juvenile and deeply generic.

Now, for a moment, just think of what the animals that we keep in the zoo could actually be wishing for. Most of them never know what their real home is like, what their life actually should be like. If they ever get to go to the wild, would they survive? Tarzan grew up in the jungles, and when he finally came to civilization, he was in trouble. But he had Jane with him. What would animals do if they had to go from civilization to the jungles, which ironically is their real home? They should have been born free, free and wild. It’s sad, I feel. The first time I thought about that is when I watched Born Free a very very long time ago.

Anyways, Madagascar the movie, is an enjoyable one and has it’s share of laughs to offer too. Cohen as King Julien – the lemur, steals the show from the entire cast whenever his character is on screen. For me, the best part of the movie was the song “I like to move it, move it”, featuring Julien. God, that was hil-LLarious, and I guess even the team at DreamWorks loved it. It’s featured in the movie, and again during the end titles. And a special music video comes as a bonus with the movie too.

It’s worth it.