Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Madagascar (2005) - Rock and cast and a solid premise keep ugly animation afloat

6/24/2019

Madagascar (2005) - Rock and cast and a solid premise keep ugly animation afloat

♥♥♥

A colorful poster for Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath's Madagascar, which seems to indicate that the lead characters of the film float from New York to Madagascar in open wood-crates

A group of animals from the Central Park Zoo in New York break out and find themselves, - via a shipwreck, - stranded on Madagascar, where a lemur with delusions of grandeur and a wacky accent is the boss king.

Madagascar is written by Mark Burton (Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015)), Billy Frolick (It Is What It Is (2001)) and co-writer/directors Eric Darnell (Antz (1998)) and Tom McGrath (Megamind (2010)).
Some time passed at first, before I came over just how computer-game-like, stiff and ugly the animation of this massive (and big-budgeted) movie is. And Madagascar never becomes a good film, because it has no serious core to it whatsoever, and it also isn't a quarter of the fun that it appears to think it is.
But the premise of wild animals getting lost in the wild is undeniably a bit funny, although these animals' fervent wish to simply return home to New York seems a bit ill-timed during the middle of the real world's natural extinction crisis.
It is the voice cast, and in particular Chris Rock (Beverly Hills Ninja (1997)) as Marty the plains zebra, who is high-spirited, which give the film its life and dashes of fun and charm.
Madagascar hoists, for instance, references to American Beauty (1999), which should fly unhindered over the heads of its core demographic (children), apparently attempting to impress and amuse its adult audiences. In this it fails.

Related post:

Tom McGrath: Megamind (2010) - Ferrell leads McGrath's hilarious animation superbly

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 75 mil. $
Box office: 532.6 mil. $
= Huge hit (returned 7.10 times its cost)
[Madagascar premiered 25 May (Philippines) and runs 86 minutes. Development began in 1998, when the film was about a Beatles-looking band of penguins... Production took place in California. The film opened #3, behind holdover hit Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith and fellow new release The Longest Yard, to a 47.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it conquered the #1 spot in its 2nd week, spending another 2 weeks in the top 5 (#2-#3) and grossing huge 193.5 mil. $ (36.7 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Germany with 42.6 mil. $ (8 %) and the UK with 40.6 mil. $ (7.6 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 2.5/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. The film spawned a Madagascar franchise: Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008), Madagascar: Europe's Most Wanted (2012) and spin-off Penguins of Madagascar (2014), all financially very successful. A 4th Madagascar movie is in the works. Darnell and McGrath returned with Madagascar: Escape 2 Europe (2008). Rock returned in Red Hot Chili Peppers' Hump de Bump (2006, music video) and theatrically in his own I Think I Love My Wife (2007); Ben Stiller (Arrested Development (2005-19)) in Extras (2005, TV-series), Todd's Coma (2005, TV movie) and theatrically in Danny Roane: First Time Director (2006). Madagascar is rotten at 54 % with a 6.07/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Madagascar?

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (14-24)

6/24/2019

Madagascar (2005) - Rock and cast and a solid premise keep ugly animation afloat

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