The gang try to leave Madagascar and fly back to New York. Of course, the penguins' plane completely falls apart and they crash land in Africa. There they are reunited with Alex's family.

This is a much better movie than the original. There are more penguin screen time. The jokes are funnier. It's a brighter happier movie. This time around, there is no more of that uncomfortable predator prey relationship.

The family aspect of Alex's story is just much more compelling and much more poignant. The idea of him trying to fit into his father's expectations. There are big ideas here.

The movie picks up, directly after the first one ended. Which is a pretty good thing. Story-wise we get character related sub-plots, so that everyone has something to do in the movie. The penguins get to play a bigger role (not a surprise, after their show-stealing performance in the first Madagascar picture) and have most of the funniest lines.

For some it might feel a bit too much story/plot and I guess at least the really young kids, might not get everything, but they still will be entertained though. And while the movie is entertaining, compared to almost any Pixar movie, this seems like a fast food (snack). Not bad at all, but really great either.

I am a fan of the first Madagascar film, I know there are a lot of people who dissed it, but I thought it was cute. So when I saw the trailer for Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, I was excited. I saw it on Friday and I absolutely enjoyed this fun family film. I think this even had a more coherent plot as well, plus how could you not love the penguins? They are absolutely hilarious and need their own movie, maybe a Full Metal Jacket with penguins! Anyways, I loved the characters so much, they're back and better than ever. They even ended up giving the little old lady from the first Madagascar who fought Alex the Lion, she has a bigger role and was so awesome to watch and listen too. I think the jokes were even funnier than the first Madagascar, my favorite scene without a doubt was the plane sequence in the beginning. But the whole story was just a blast to watch.

Alex, Marty, Gloria, and Melman are still looking to go back to Africa, everything seems to be a good and they start to fly back with the penguins as well as Julien. But the plane runs out of fuel and crashes, they are still in Africa, but bump into an animal pack where Alex finds his long lost parents, Marty finds out that all zebras are like him(imagine being surrounded by 1,000 Chris Rocks*shudder*),Gloria has a hunky hippo who is crushing on her, and Melman becomes the giraffe witch doctor of his group. Alex is about to be initiated into his pride, but one lion does not want him part of the group and will do anything to become leader.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is definitely worth your watch, it's not the animated film of the year, but it was a lot of fun to watch. It kind of reminded me of The Lion King a little bit, it has a similar story. It's a great family film and is fun for both the kids and the adults as well. Although I still think it's funny that Alex is voiced by Ben Stiller and his dad is voiced by Bernie Mac, but it's all good, who knows, maybe Alex's dad just had a little more soul in him. I would recommend this film, it was a lot of fun to watch and I suggest we write in a script for those penguins! They're a blast to watch on screen.

7/10