Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted

Most movie franchises run out of steam long before they hit the trifecta, but there are rare occasions when the threads all pull together in a new and interesting way to give audiences something familiar, but fresh to look at. Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted starts out with the same needy tones, with Alex the Lion (voiced by Ben Stiller) desperately trying to get off the island where they were stranded at the end of Madagascar 2 so he can get back to his beloved Central Park Zoo in New York City. Through a series of mini-adventures, Alex and his friends – Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer) and Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) – end up hiding out with a European circus troupe that is hoping to audition for an American investor who will bring their show to America. There’s just one problem: The circus stinks. And that’s the key to Madagascar 3. Because the main characters run into a group of animals who are even worse off than they are, it gives them a chance to finally quit kvetching and do something. It’s a nice change, and leads not only to some really funny moments, like Marty embracing his inner show horse, but also lets the story take time to build new characters that can interact with Alex and the rest in interesting, compelling ways.