Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller) lives in the zoo and has never known any other life. He is the star of the show and loves the way that the crowds gather around to watch him ferociously roar and strut his stuff. Each night, the zoo staff brings his steak on a silver platter, and he couldn’t be more pleased with life.
His best friend Marty (Chris Rock) is a zebra with a desire to run free. He has a treadmill in his cage, but it’s not the same as taking off across the savannah. It’s Marty’s birthday, and all he wants for his birthday wish is to return to the wild and run endlessly. Alex just can’t understand; why leave? They have everything they could want right there.
But Marty’s determined, and he takes off. Alex goes to find him, taking with him their friends Melman, the hypochondriac giraffe (David Schwimmer) and Gloria the hippopotamus (Jada Pinkett Smith.) They think they’re going to persuade Marty to come back to the zoo, but the very next thing they know, they’re on a ship, in crates.
When they reach shore, Alex is pretty certain they’ve come to the Los Angeles Zoo. What he doesn’t realize is that they have actually arrived in Madagascar, the wild Marty was so anxious to find. He’s ecstatic when he realizes that he can run to his heart’s content, but Alex is having a nervous breakdown. He’s a tame lion! How is he going to survive out in the wild? And Melman really wants his prescriptions!
It takes a little bit of convincing on Marty’s part but he finally gets Alex to see the joy of being loose in the wild. But there’s a problem with lions in the wild – they eat other animals, and they love to eat zebras. As Alex’s naturally wild nature rises to the surface, it takes everything he has not to eat his best friend.
This film is a definite favorite in our household. There is a lot of humor and a lot of adventure. There are some elements that may be frightening to a very young viewer, as we are dealing with not-quite-tame animals here, but you can see it and decide for yourself if it’s appropriate for your children. I give it two thumbs way, way up.
This film is rated PG for mild peril.
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