Madagascar: The Crate Escape
I might be stretching my mandate a bit here, but dang it, by six-year-old is going to be thrilled. And, in fact, so will I, because Madagascar ruled. David Schwimmer talks about the upcoming sequel (this November) and offers some spoilers:
“[Melman] gets to kind of confess his love for Gloria [Jada Pinkett Smith]. Ironically, he becomes a doctor, and he’s the one who’s always ailing. They’re on a new island, and he finds himself becoming the local doctor for all these people. It’s really fun.”
In the sequel to the 2005 hit Madagascar, Alex the lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), Gloria the hippo and Melman make their way to the African plains, where they encounter hunters, romantic rivals and other members of their respective species.
Why the new Bionic Woman failed
None of these.
March 28th, 2008 at 9:26 am
Madagascar “ruled”? Dude, what movie were you watching? It was decent, mildly entertaining, and kids like it. That’s fine. But “ruled”?
Really, the best part (by far) of Madagascar was the penguins. The short Xmas film featuring the penguins that ran before the Wallce & Gromit movie (a film that truly did RULE), and added to the Madagascar DVD after that, was a million times more funny. And it didn’t have David Schwimmer (bonus!).
I know penguins have been overused in kids films now, but I’d much rather see a whole movie featuing the Madagascar penguins than any of those other characters… All Madagascar 2 is going to be is a pandering, unnecessary sequel to a movie that wasn’t that great to begin with. Not unlike those bland Ice Age films they keep churning out.
Do yourself a favor and watch all the Pixar films (except for Cars)again. Or the first two Shreks. Or the Wallace & Gromit stuff (both the feature and the short films). Or Chicken Run. Or The Nightmare Before Christmas. Now THOSE are animated films that “rule.”
March 28th, 2008 at 9:34 am
Alright… The Bionic Woman, etc. page was great. Fembot! I’d forgotten all about that. I used to have a Six Million Dollar Man action figure! You could look through his “bionic eye” and roll back part of the “skin” on his arm to see the bionic parts.
The only stupid thing was the rocket ship for him… It was only slightly bigger than he was! This was back in the day of larger action figures, and not the little tiny, crappy figures of today.
And The Man From Atlantis… WOW. I remember watching it as a kid. Even then I thought it was pretty weak. I wanted more Aquaman-style heroics I think. No talking to the fish? Screw that!
I bet it wouldn’t hold very up well in reruns either.
March 28th, 2008 at 10:55 am
I enjoyed the new Bionic Woman, but it could have been a lot better.
Maybe you’re right, maybe the lack of toys was a sign of the real problem. The new show was so depressing at times, so gritty, so little fun. It’s a woman with super powers, there should be some fun. Some serious stuff too, but some fun. Something you can watch with the kids and cheer along with the kids when she does something cool. I think it started to get more fun in the second half of the episodes, but then they’d have an episode about Jamie’s first assassination.
March 28th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Jamie Summers killing people? Yeesh. That just seems wrong, somehow. Glad I never bothered. Was there a new Oscar Goldman too?
Oh, one more thing about the Six Million Dollar Man figures. I remember having the “villain” figure: some guy called “Maskatron.” You could change his face to impersonate as Steve Austin or Oscar Goldman too. Did such a character actually exist on the show? I have no recollection of that.
March 28th, 2008 at 11:34 am
Shaun: I stand by “ruled.” Mainly because of the penguins, but also because of
RossMelman, Marty, and Julian. What can I say? Those dudes make me laugh.I also dig all the other films you mentioned except the Shrek ones. I’d like the Shrek movies if only they didn’t have Shrek in them. Mike Myers’ Scot schtick drives me crazy. Puss ‘n Boots and the Gingerbread Man are awesome though.
I’m glad we agree on the Bionic Woman. And we also agree on Man from Atlantis. A show about a water-breathing man who helps a bunch of scientists in a giant submarine and fights Victor Buono every week should’ve been a LOT better.
Jason: You’re exactly right about the problems of Bionic Woman. Same deal with SCI FI’s new Flash Gordon series, which is (was? is it still on?) also unwatchable. You’ve got to try really hard to make Flash Gordon boring, but those guys must have been putting in 200 hour work weeks. It’s the same problem I have with a lot of superhero comics today. This stuff is supposed to fun.
March 28th, 2008 at 11:42 am
There was an Oscar Goldman-type character, but he was more of a jerk and they didn’t call him Oscar. And there were no robot-Bigfoot fights. It’s like they were trying to be dull.
The only things it had going for it were Starbuck and Dr. Burke from Grey’s Anatomy, but I even got tired of Starbuck after a few weeks.
March 28th, 2008 at 11:55 am
Michael: Victor Buono! That’s right! He killed as King Tut on Batman… How did Man From Atlantis not work? That’s easy. Like Sci-Fi’s Flash Gordon it was really, really boring.
As for Shrek, I can understand the Mike Meyers schtick wearing thin (it’s like watching Robin Williams now). I thought it was charming in the first one (and it reminded me of the Scottish dad in the underrated “So I Married An Axe-Murder”). The concept, at the time, was a fresh one.
Shrek 2 was over the top, but it was still a lot of fun, and a clever story. Having Banderas, Julie Andrews and John Cleese on board certainly helped. They should’ve stopped there, however. I have no interest in any more Shrek movies.
I just think Madagascar is another in a long line of mediocre, motsly generic CGI kiddie fare that really doesn’t offer much. Inoffensive, if a bit loud and crass, but after awhile they all start looking and sounding alike. Nothing that matches the heart of the best films from Pixar or Aardman.
March 28th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
That’s what killed BW… No sasquatch.
Honestly, a modern day take on that would’ve been sweet. What a shame.
March 28th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
The only thing I liked about “Madagascar” were the penguins and the monkeys, and they were only in the movie for about 10 minutes. So that’s basically about 75 minutes (~90%) of movie that was bland at best.