Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)

If the first Madagascar movie made you a fan of the infectious dance tune that goes "I like to move it move it," then yes, you'll find more of Prince Julian with his lemur cohort and dance tunes to groove by in this second Madagascar movie. If you love the leading cast of zoo animals -- Alex the rockstar lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the crackalackin' zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the hypochondriac giraffe (David Schwimmer), and Gloria the easygoing hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) -- then Madagascar 2 will reveal more about their dreams, motivations, and resolutions -- this time in Africa. (It's almost like The Lion King takes on Woody Allen in the borscht veldt: Oy! Did you hear my son is king of New York?) Of course, if your favorite Madagascar schtick is those wacky penguins, then fasten your seat belts for an in-flight movie that delivers even more penguin schtick (and that's a good thing, despite how it sounds). Madagascar 2 gives us more of all the good stuff we enjoyed in the first movie and it's actually funnier. The lead characters are a little less hyperkinetic than spastic rubber bands (whew!) and more into wrestling with and processing the internal conflicts of their relationships: Alex's need to be the center of attention vis-a-vis his long-lost parents, Marty's individuality vis-a-vis the zebras' herd mentality, Melman's unrequited love vis-a-vis Gloria, and Gloria's attraction to a hirsute (yech!) ladies' hippo named Moto-Moto. (I would have given the movie 5 stars without him.) In the end, all the characters solve their problems in their individually wild and weird ways and the penguins inexplicably ("You didn't see anything") procure the materiel for a celebration. Gotta love those penguins! Flipper slaps all around! 4.5 stars. (11-24-08)