I just like the penguins. I have studied this issue for three (3) films now and I have solidly landed on the conclusion that without the penguins, those four insane, highly regimental and bizarrely motivated instruments of chaos, the Madagascar franchise is worth exactly squat.
Unfortunately, the penguins continue to be minor participants in the feel good schmaltz offered in the lives of Alex the Lion (voice of Ben Stiller), Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock) and the giraffe and hippo who may or may not have names and are voiced by folks who could be wiped from my memory Eternal Sunshine style without a single thing changing in my life (David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith). Our heroes begin this journey in the Serengeti where the foursome prances about in a self-made 3D mud map of New York City. It’s kinda clever, but makes our group homesick. Awwww. The Manhattancentricity of the Madagascar franchise – honestly, I don’t think its doin’ you any favors. So the four sit there wishing they were back in the New York groove when they get the bright idea to follow the penguins. There are worse movie ideas, but most involve teens in horror films.
The very next scene, four zoo animals surface on the shores of Monte Carlo. How did they get there? Who knows? Why can’t they go to NYC the same way they magically *poofed* to Monte Carlo? Who knows? This is a contrivance of such fabrication and non-imagination that if I were a high school English teacher and this essay showed up on my desk, I’d write, “At least you didn’t plagiarize. D-“ Luckily, this bit of innovation allows us to spy on penguins cheating at gambling and introduce this adventure’s antagonist: Captain Chantel DuBois (Frances McDormand), the animated French law enforcement version of the Terminator. Naturally, our gang escapes and joins a circus. It’s a cartoon. And it allows us to explore the title — Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted. Yeah, I know that was eating at you.
At this point, I find a rather large chasm between reality and cartoon reality. When you go to the circus, the animals are filler material. You watch them because it’s cool to see a tiger or elephant, no? Yeah, they do “tricks” in the same way toddlers do tricks. Getting an elephant to stand on hind legs is not quite “pick a card, any card,” now, is it? But in this circus, the animals do all the acts, including “human” cannonball and trapeze. I don’t have a problem with this, per se, but the entire point of this franchise is that wild animals belong either in controlled environments like zoos or somewhere in Africa. The anthropomorphization conflicts with the fabricated plot. If animals can be trusted to run their own circus, why is there animal control? Why do we have a villain at all?
This circus, like most circuses, is equal parts dread and vomit-inducing. Upon reflection here, I specifically speak to Marty the Zebra dressing as a clown and singing “Circus Afro” to the tune of calliope music. I’m 
going to say something now that I probably have never thought before – quite honestly, I wish I were black so that I could be suitably horrified by the Uncle Tom-ish nature of the “Circus Afro” song and dance.
As is I will have to settle for being suitably horrified by the idea of Madagascar IV.
Rated PG, 93 Minutes
D: Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath & Conrad Vernon
W: Eric Darnell and Noah Baumbach (!)
Genre: Circus fu
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: I dunno. Fierce opponents of animal control, maybe?
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: The real life residents of Madagascar
