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