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4. 2012
Roland Emmerich's thrilling apocalypse movie with John Cusack as the hero.
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Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

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Cert: PG

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Dir: Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath. Cast: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Alec Baldwin, Tommy 'Tiny' Lister, Cedric The Entertainer

 

Description: Alex the lion, Marty the zebra, Melman the hypochondriac giraffe and Gloria the hippopotamus are finally ready to leave the exotic island of Madagascar and return to the plush surroundings of New York's Central Park Zoo. Boarding a rickety plane with ring-tailed lemur King Julien the 13th, his second-in-command Maurice and the penguins - Private, Rico, Skipper and Kowalski - the animals crash-land shy of their destination, ending up on the plains of Africa where Alex comes mane-to-mane with his long lost father Zuba.

Country: US. 2008. 89mins
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Escape 2 Africa is ready for roaring success

By Charlotte O'Sullivan, Evening Standard  04.12.08
 

Our old friend Alex the lion (voiced by Ben Stiller), last seen in the phenomenally successful Madagascar, goes back to Africa to meet his parents and initially disappoints his dad because he’s more interested in Bob Fosse-style hoofing than proving himself an alpha male.

The little old New York granny lion of the original also reappears, her immigrant spunk making her the perfect survivor. But what price survival? asks the film. As you’ll know if you’ve seen Madagascar, it takes the risky step of problematising animal appetites. Here, interestingly, the carnivorous members of the gang don’t eat anything, they just drink cocktails or water. Nor is racial purity much of a concern — inter-species romance is rife.

Stiller has an ear for mainstream projects that keep a few steps ahead of the crowd, like Meet the Parents and Tropic Thunder. Escape 2 Africa is tame by comparison but it never treats us like dumb animals.

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