The gang's all back in Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (Dreamworks)
By Darren Buchanan
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (opening November 7 throughout San Diego) is your typical kids movie -- you laugh and say, "Aww!" But there is no twist, no suspense or anything new. In this movie, you see Alex the Lion as a baby and find out how he ended you in the New York zoo in the first place. It picks of from the origanal Madagascar film in the jungle. The main animals Alex, Marty, Melman, and Gloria are trying to get back to New York by plane but the plane ends up crashlanding in Africa. They all run into a watering whole were Alex meets his long lost parents. Alex has to prove himself to the tribe by fighting another lion to prove to the tribe that he is a man, or else he will be banded form the tribe for life. Alex fails the test and his father, who is the Alpha-Lion, is the one who needs to ban him. But can his father do this to his own son?
Meanwhile, the watering hole runs ot of water because of a dam built up stream by humans. So Alex and his father go up stream to take down the dam. They fight the humans and their efforts might just win them a place back in the tribe.
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (rated PG for some mild crude humor) is a predictable family film. It's somthing you take your kids to but it's not for teenagers. It is funny but eventually funny isn't enough. I started to fall asleep toward the end because since I've seen plenty of kid movies I knew the end was going to be another happy one.
--Darrin Buchanan is a seventeen-year-old senior at Mount Miguel High School. His main hobbies are theater and speech. He's also a member of the varsity speech team and a part of all the theater productions at school. He loves going to movies and is looking forward to sharing his views with others.
