Madagascar

Dreamworks animated films fall into one of two categories. Either they are overly serious, stultifying bores like Prince of Egypt and Spirit Stallion of the Cimarron or they are overly frenetic incessant in-your-face supposed-family friendly fare like the Shrek films and the truly horrible Shark Tale. Madagascar offers a few quiet moments that allow actually characters to develop, but it still is firmly entrenched in the ritalin-needed school of Dreamworks style. There are throwaway pop-culture jokes that are there for no reason other then to make adults recognize them, and there are montages where you just want to slap the screen to get it to calm down. That said, the film almost gets by on two interesting performances. Chris Rock manages some interesting work as Marty the zebra, showing a depth he's never revealed in his live-action work. However the real star of the show is Sacha Baron Cohen (Ali G). He gives the kind of performance that will keep an actor employed in animated films for a very long time. He's almost enough to recommend the film. Had the movie followed through on the interesting thematic issues it raises it might have been able to keep company with the Pixar films, but instead it settles for more frantic schtick.