Madagascar

[Once Upon A Dream]

Luckily I don't feel bad getting criticized by people with such poor spelling and use of the English language.

Whatever my English is great and you have no right to critic my English and personal attacking anyone and espically not me .

[American_dog_2008]

I just saw it, and I loved it!

But there was no trailer for Bolt!

[CGIFanatic]

I saw it and thought it was much better than the first one. I saw it on IMAX and the only trailer shown at our theatre was Monsters vs. Aliens.

[James]

I’m no moderator or anything but can we stick to discussing the thread’s subject matter as opposed to criticizing someone’s use of the English language (especially when we’ve established before that English is no that persons primary/mother tongue).

Yes personal attacks aren't useful to the conversation, but Once's criticism of The Wild wasn't very constructive either ("poor excuse for a film", "lame rip-off", denies it even exists) -- especially since some of the people that worked on it frequent these boards.

[CGIFanatic]

I’ve seen plenty of criticism on the board against lots of movies around here (e.g.: “Cars”, “Cars2”, “Shrek 3”, etc…) and I don’t remember moderators being particularly concerned about possible hurt feelings in those instances.

I may be wrong about this but Once sounds like a young person (sorry Once if I’m wrong) who is trying to speak in a language other then their primary one but instead of encouraging him/her we’ve got people picking on the person for the misuse of the English language. I don’t think that is right but that’s just me.

You are the moderator and far be it for me to step on toes so you do what you think is appropriate in this situation.

[Once Upon A Dream]

Well,Sorry if what I said about the Wild sounds harsh but sorry,I don't like that film,maybe I should just say I dislike it?.
CGIFantastic,yeah,and I"m young.

I just saw it, and I loved it!

But there was no trailer for Bolt!

Good to know that you liked it .
But Bolt is a Disney movie so I don't think they whould have a trailer.

[Ben]

I think James has done what is "appropriate in this situation".

Can we all please move on, or at least go back to the topic at hand...thanks.

[James]

I’ve seen plenty of criticism on the board against lots of movies around here (e.g.: “Cars”, “Cars2”, “Shrek 3”, etc…) and I don’t remember moderators being particularly concerned about possible hurt feelings in those instances.

As I said there is a difference between criticism and just insulting a movie. To tell the truth I usually ignore the latter as it is completely not useful. But if you're going to do it, especially with some of the people that worked on the film running around, you can't be insulted when someone says something not constructive back! They both got their barbs in, we all learned the lesson of the day, so let's move on.

[CGIFanatic]

Sorry James and Ben for maybe overreacting…

[James]

You didn't overact! You stood up for someone! So no apologies needed. As mods we sometimes need to see things from both sides when people disagree which might seem contradictory at times.

[spaz]

actually, gang , insulting the Wild vs insulting Cars or anything other Disney picture is an odd duck. when we were doing this film , we had no idea that it was being purposely sabotaged by back room Pixar/Disney meetings. it didn't matter how good or bad the film ended up being. we were screwed from the date they green lit it. as for "insulting" Cars, this is like saying , "the emperor isn't wearing any pants". it is and will always be protected regardless of it's quality.

[droosan]

I had a blast watching Madagascar 2 ..

It was pleasantly surprising to discover that what was shown in the trailers was basically from the first 10 minutes of the film .. with the result being that -- for much of the movie -- I had absolutely no idea where they were going with the story.

Not that the story was all that important. Rather, the characters are set loose on a variety of 'tangents' that intertwine in fun (and sometimes surprising) ways.

The penguins were in top form; their brief 'confrontation' with Alex, their crazy "Operation: Tourist Trap", their frustrations with the monkeys, and several gags featuring the Skipper's new 'love interest' were all great fun (why isn't there a hula-bobble 'Doll' toy tie-in..?)

Melman's 'unrequited love' storyline does seem to cull a bit from David Schwimmer's similar character-arc in the sitcom Friends .. but it was still very sweetly done; especially King Julian's 'pep-talk' and Melman's ensuing 'confrontation' with Moto-Moto.

Speaking of culling storylines, the opening sequence featuring Alex's childhood borrows from the rest of the Kimba the White Lion story, which had gone 'unused' in The Lion King

.. right down to following a butterfly into danger, and floating across the ocean to the world of men.

However, Alex's character is certainly distinct from Kimba, largely thanks to Ben Stiller .. whose personality seemed even more 'engrained' with the animation, this time around; especially in his Zoolander-styled dance moves.

Marty and Gloria's storylines seemed far less-developed, but were nonetheless fun. King Julian seemed to be starring in his own separate movie (which, of course, is in keeping with the first). I was very afraid in the beginning (along with Julian) that Mort had decided to join them .. but, thankfully, he was used only sparingly .. and to good effect, in the end.

It's no Toy Story 2 .. yet it is a very enjoyable follow-up to the first Madagascar film (which, aside from its interesting & stylish designs, I had found somewhat 'aimless' and pedestrian).

I am looking forward to the Penguins' spin-off TV series .. which I am hoping picks up where the movie leaves off (rather than 'regressing' to their zoo-bound days).

[Ben]

Zoo-bound days, it looks like, droo:
http://www.animated-news.com/forum/view ... 4457#54457

[American_dog_2008]

Madagascar 2 is on the top here in Scandinavia.

[droosan]

The Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa soundtrack is fun-n-n-nkaaayy .. and a marked improvement over the first film's soundtrack album.

Artist will.i.am (who was the voice of Moto-Moto in the film) would seem to deserve a fair amount of credit for 'plussing' Madagascar musically. His vocal style is by turns funky (The Traveling Song, I Like to Move It), funny (Big & Chunky), and endearing (the vocal version of Best Friends, from M:E2A's end title).

Composer Hans Zimmer has beautifully expanded all of his themes from the first film, while also dabbling in a palette of 'world-fusion' styles .. such as the vibrant Party! Party! Party! (which is the highlight of the album, IMHO), the pulsating Volcano, and the laid-back Chums (essentially a 'Seu Jorge-esque' interpretation of the Best Friends theme). There are also a couple of fun 'polka-styled' interludes which accompany Nana's memorable scenes.

There are only two 'pre-existing' pop-music tracks, this time around: Boston's More Than A Feeling and Barry Manilow's Copacabana .. quite unlike the album from the first film, of which fully 50% was 'pre-existing' pop-music.

My only real complaint about the soundtrack is the strange sequencing, which doesn't seem to 'work' conceptually, as an album. Re-arranging the tracks to reflect their order in the movie makes for a better listening experience, IMHO. It also would've been nice to have the Zoosters' rendition of I Like to Move It, from early in the film .. but that's a minor quibble.