<Review by: Sailesh Ghelani>

Directed by Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath. Starring the Voices of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Martin Short, Jessica Chastain, Frances McDormand, Cedric the Entertainer.

This funny animated franchise has just gotten better each time. The guys at Dreamworks have pushed as many clowns in the car as they could and made Madagascar 3 hilarious and visually fantastic.

Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer), Gloria the Hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) and King Julien (Sacha Baron Cohen) are abandoned by everyone’s favourite gang, the Penguins, in Africa. The well-dressed birds are off to Europe for some gambling in Monte Carlo. But our zoo escapees are pining to return to their home in New York, so they find a way to Monte Carlo and… trouble. For zer is zee infamous Capt. Chantel DuBois (Frances McDormand), capturer and killer of beasts.

The adventure is on, as the gang must evade the evil cop-chanteuse. A Russian Circus and its colourful bunch of creatures from a hoop jumping tiger called Vitaly (Bryan Cranston), a trapeze artist cheetah Gia (Jessica Chastain) and an Italian seal… oops sea lion called Stefano (Martin Short) give the gang sanctuary but ultimately it is our zoo dwellers that save the circus.

Madagascar 3 is so fast paced and visually stimulating you won’t have a moment to let your eyes off the screen. The 3D is vivid, in your face, psychedelic and smartly used. And the music by Hans Zimmer coupled with some amazing tracks like the Afro Circus song and Katy Perry’s song for the film just add to the fun ride (yes of course there’s also ‘I like to move it, move it) and a French ditty sung by the unstoppable Captain DuBois. I also realised that Hollywood sound designer Will Files has done some of the sound on this one, which he had told me in my interview with him this year (read his interview here).

The characters are so delightful, Gia with her charm and mystery, Vitaly with his bravado but sensitive and weak side, Stefano who is ‘just a bit below average’ but exceedingly perceptive. They have added a new dimension to the film as after a couple of outings you could get a tad bored with the staple characters. No chance with Madagascar 3.

Note: Minority-Review does not condone the use of animals in circuses or their mistreatment.