Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (2012)

More entertaining than ever: The increased “fish out of water” animals vs. humans antics make for loads of hilarious action set pieces (see the insane truck then plane escape from Monte Carlo), the goofy one-off bits are taken to another level (see DuBois’ rousing French song; Rock’s gut-busting Afro-circus bit), and the new circus setting provides two infectious feel-good musical numbers. The plot, meanwhile, continually takes wonderfully unexpected turns (see the poignant return to the zoo).

7

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)

Starts off a little rough with a cheesy flashback, yet another rendition of “Move It” (enough already), and a contrived four-fold character-growth set-up in a far-fetched multi-animal tribe, but the penguins keep you engaged (I’ll never tire of their hijinx) and the adventure plot sparked by a touching Alex-Marty moment picks things up with a number of memorable scenes both hilarious (see Julian’s sacrifice bit; the Penguins’ union negotiations) and moving (see the father-son dance diversion).

5

Madagascar (2005)

The four quirky animal friends (with their oddball supporting cast–the suave penguins are comedy gold) riff nicely off each other, and the comedy is only bolstered by the silly realism-pushing settings and situations (see the lax luxury of the zoo; penguin ship hijack), good one-liners (“Well this sucks”) and fun visual gags (see Melman’s “We’re running out of time!” with a clock on his head). Alex and Marty’s friendship crisis, meanwhile, brings some surprisingly mature (if short-lived) drama.

6

Bee Movie (2007)

Barry B. Benson, a bee just graduated from college, is disillusioned at his lone career choice: making honey. On a special trip outside the hive, Barry’s life is saved by Vanessa, a florist in New York City. As their relationship blossoms, he discovers humans actually eat honey, and subsequently decides to sue them. (IMDb)

There’s good animation (the flying sequences are especially impressive) and voice-work (Rock, Warburton, and Goodman’s distinct tones entertain) throughout, but the story is an inconsistent mess, moving from a classic leaving-the-nest plot to courtroom drama to saving-the-world action, with the far-fetched bee-human interaction shifting from excusably funny (see Barry’s battles with Ken and lawyer Layton) to inexcusably ridiculous (see the instant death and life of the plants in the final act).

6/10 (Mediocre)

Osmosis Jones (2001)

A policeman white blood cell, with the help of a cold pill, must stop a deadly virus from destroying the human they live in, Frank. (IMDb)

The film’s central premise is fun and the screenplay takes full advantage of it with lots of creative spins on the idea of the body as parts of a city, as well as numerous funny “inside jokes”. Murray is good as the super gross and neglectful dad and provides some great bits of humour, but other parts of the live action bits fall flat. The animation also feels cheesy and the plot is pretty bland, but overall the film is worth a watch just for the imaginative concept and witty script.

6/10 (Mediocre)