So I went to see Madagascar 2 last night with my parents, my wife, and about 500 kids and their parents. Seriously, we need to start advertising these movies as cartoons for adults. Moreso than the Simpsons or even Family Guy, movies like Madagascar and its sequel follow in the footsteps paved first by Shrek which created the unwritten rule that cartoon movies must entertain the parents as much as the kids.
But Madagascar 2 takes this to a whole new level. Sasha Baron Cohen provides the voice for a ring-tailed lemur who is constantly providing one liners that no kid in their right mind had any idea they were supposed to laugh at. I was crying my eyes out at the ridiculous things coming out of that lemur’s mouth and all the kids around me were looking back at me wondering what was going on.
I like this new movie genre, but we have to come up with some way to let parents know they are big kid movies, not little kid movies. The days of the Little Mermaid and Mickey Mouse have given way to wacky characters voiced by the likes of Mike Meyers and Chris Rock. I seriously would like to know what those kids thought who left by my side after Madagascar 2, but the only way they were laughing was if they were laughing at the kooky guy in the back row who laughed at all the not funny parts in the movie.
Go see this movie, it is as funny as anything else you can see. Just leave your kids to their game systems and Hannah Montana concerts.
