MADAGASCAR 3: EUROPE'S MOST WANTED

Photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures

America’s favorite foursome from New York’s Central Park Zoo are still attempting to return to the Big Apple this time in MADAGASCAR 3: EUROPE’S MOST WANTED.  

Alex, Marty, Melvin and Gloria begin their quest in the tropical confines of Africa, but spend much of their journey in Europe with their initial hope lying with the penguins and their aircraft.  After their flight is downed, the former zoo inhabitants find a new means of transportation, by rail, as they hitch a ride with a traveling circus.  

The circus not only serves as a means for travel, but also as a cover for the zoo crew as they are on the run from a French inspector following some illegal activity by their penguin and monkey friends in a French casino.

Apparently the third time is a charm for the MADAGASCAR series.  

After a decent original, and a lackluster follow-up, MADAGASCAR 3: EUROPE’S MOST WANTED seems to have found its rhythm.  Where most series have hit a dead-end, MADAGASCAR has begun to operate at full steam with the introduction of fresh circus faces, new and interesting locales and an unstoppable French inspector.  

It doesn’t hurt that MADAGASCAR 3 is as goofy as it is clever.  The screenplay, penned by prior MADAGASCAR scribe Eric Darnell and indie writer-director Noah Baumbaugh, delights in the eccentricities of the circus folk, while also conjuring up several silly scenarios for the regulars to get into.  The two best additions are the aforementioned French Inspector, who is one-third terminator, one-third blood hound and one-third alien, and the other a dumbfounded circus seal voiced surprisingly well by Martin Short.  

MADAGASCAR 3 also moves at breakneck speed, whizzing through Europe’s most famous countries with the French inspector hot in pursuit, while still finding time to develop the circus story line and several humorous and substantial sub-plots.  

MADAGASCAR 3: EUROPE’S MOST WANTED is a pleasant surprise, and a rare instance where the third leg of a trilogy turns out to be the best.

Grade: B

PROMETHEUS

Photos courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

A group of scientists and space explorers investigate the origin of mankind in the year 2094 in Ridley Scott’s science-fiction thriller, PROMETHEUS.  

Elizabeth and Charlie, two scientists, discover a breakthrough at several destinations around the globe, signs encrypted on remote dwellings that leads them to believe they have discovered the answer to human creation.  Thanks to the backing of a wealthy corporation, the two scientists and a group of space navigators head off on Prometheus, a vessel with all of the technological gadgetry you could imagine, and then some.  

Although the group is excited about the potential discoveries from their voyage, they’ll soon find out that it’s no walk in the park.

PROMETHEUS ventures down the same track that Scott’s ALIEN did some 32 years ago, creating the same sense of terror and intrigue.

Although similarities are aplenty between the two films, PROMETHEUS creates its own identity by increasing the stakes of these scientists discovery, not only in danger, but importance, from both a practical and philosophical level.  Writers Jon Spaiht and Damon Lindelof add some depth to the proceedings by provoking questions of science versus faith, but more than anything deliver a unique world, both inside and outside of Prometheus, establishing a sense of wonderment and fear.  

The unnamed planet is a wonder all its own, but Spaiht and Lindelof don’t just stop there, as they revel in the freedom of the genre, creating a self-contained surgical machine, a human like robot called David and several other imaginative touches to the spaceship.  Although PROMETHEUS dabbles in depth, it ditches the exploration of theology, and instead crafts a more-or-less, straightforward, science fiction thriller.  
The film is nothing new, but is terrifically executed, and Scott’s handling of the action and intensity provides a welcomed blockbuster that delivers the excitement, intensity and pathos that other big-budget summer installments have lacked.  
PROMETHEUS set the bar high with its introduction, creating an epic feel with importance and thoughtfulness.  Although it never reaches great heights, it still delivers a creature feature worth watching.

Grade: B