Every Madagascar Movie Ranked From Worst to Best

Since the franchise began in 2005, Dreamworks Animation Madagascar Ranked films reveal that most of the new films seem to improve on the last installment in terms of quality. Released in 2005, the animated family comedy Madagascar it was an expensive investment that paid off big for Dreamworks Animation. MadagascarThe $500 million payday proved once and for all that the sillier, less dramatic cartoons offered by Dreamworks Animation had serious box office appeal that could match that of its competitors, although the film failed to impress critics. .

The first Madagascar sequence, Escape 2 Africa, earned more than its predecessor and fared better with critics, but it was 2012’s Madagascar 3: Europe’s most wanted which saw the series earn a massive $750 million and the best reviews in the franchise. However, the 2014 spin-off film Penguins of Madagascar underperformed at the box office despite receiving solid reviews, calling the future of the franchise into question. Outside the box office, however, how does the Madagascar Are the films rated in terms of quality, and is this collection of animation a franchise that gets better, rather than worse, with each new film?

4

Madagascar (2005)

The first film in the franchise

It’s rare to see the first film in a franchise ranked as the weakest film of the bunch, but while the first of the Madagascar Movies is a solid effort in its own right, the film isn’t as well-written or gorgeously animated as its superior sequels. Burdened with the task of featuring the central quartet of Alex, Marty, Melman and Gloria while they are still trapped in captivityThe opening act of this family comedy struggles to keep the proceedings moving at a fast-paced and sometimes wacky pace. Looney TunesThe inspired animation feels wasted in such a slow-paced story.

However, the penguins are solid comic relief as always, and when the group arrives on the titular island, the proceedings speed up, with the arrival of Sacha Baron Cohen’s breakout character King Julien bringing many of the original film’s strongest laughs. . It’s an imperfect start to the series, but it leaves those more confident Madagascar films, despite their dated pop culture parodies (something that should never have been attempted outside of Shrek franchise).

3

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)

The second film in the franchise

Released three years after the success of the first film Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa It represents an improvement over the series and shows the first signs of the promise that is yet to come. The plot is admittedly a comedic retread of the original Lion King with Ben Stiller’s cocky, self-aware Alex playing the lead role – but The Lion King is a retread of Village Firstly, and most pertinently, the Disney film is more concerned with pathos and poignant moments than with this every-minute comedy.

No one could accuse Madagascar The films were very moving and serious, but the film’s slow pace limited the effectiveness of its theoretically wacky comedy. In this sequel, the faster pacing and sillier, more ambitious humor are DreamWorks Animation’s greatest strengths, and this more confident, tight sequel represents a step up from the original, just as Shrek 2The blitzkrieg of visual gags and constant jokes upped the ante. The addition of the late, great Bernie Mac and veteran scene-stealer Alec Baldwin to the cast means the lineup remains fresh.

2

Penguins of Madagascar (2014)

The fourth film in the Thea franchise

The serious spy forger penguins of Madagascar The films have been the franchise’s breakout characters, a set of comedic idiots so consistently funny that few viewers have time to wonder why an entirely comedic franchise needed comic relief in the first place. The news that Rico, Private, Kowalski and Skipper would be receiving their own spin-off film in Penguins of Madagascar was met with some trepidation by fans of the franchise, as the characters could have been made funnier in small doses and their spy parody theatrics may well have worn thin in feature films.

Happily, the addition of Benedict Cumberbatch as a smooth-talking wolf and Peter Stormare as a towering polar bear ensures proceedings are still fresh and funny when the running time of the Penguin’s adventures is stretched out, and the characters’ gleefully absurd antics allow DreamWorks to indulge in some inspired set pieces of Chuck Jones/Tex Avery-style cartoon madness. This is the most purely surreal and silly chapter in the series, and is among Madagascaras a result.

1

Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (2012)

The third film in the franchise

Co-written by Noah Baumbach, Madagascar 3: Europe’s most wanted is a truly rare treat – a second sequence that surpasses both Madagascar films before departures. Firstly, the addition of Bryan Cranston, Martin Short, and Jessica Chastain to the cast means that the series still doesn’t have to rely on the first film’s characters for laughs, and the new additions allow the four leads to grow as characters through new romances and bows. However, it’s Frances McDormand who really steals the show in Madagascar 3: Europe’s most wanted as vile animal control officer Chantel DuBois.

The story is concise and fast-paced and the writing funny, but the new addition that elevates this sequel are the stunning visuals. The colorful animation is as much a visual marvel as anything Pixar has ever produced and earns Madagascar 3: Europe’s most wanted a place next door A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors in the pantheon of three sequels that comfortably surpass their predecessors in the eyes of critics and fans.

The future of the Madagascar franchise

There were rumors that a fifth Madagascar film (and the Madagascar series) was ongoing. It has been more than 10 years since Penguins of Madagascar arrived in theaters, and although television cartoons have kept the series alive, the next film in the series has not materialized and there has been little talk about it. Just the Shrek franchise has more than four films in the series for DreamWorks, two of which are the Puss in Boots spin-offs. About that, Madagascar sit next to How to train your dragon and Kung Fu Panda, with four each.

It seems interesting that there was no Madagascar 4especially because Madagascar 3: Europe’s most wanted earned $200,000 more than Panda Kung Fu 3and that film got a fourth installment in its main franchise series. There are problems behind the scenes, especially since Chris Rock (Marty the Zebra) and Jada Pinkett Smith (Gloria the Hippo) had a fight that resulted in Will Smith slapping Rock at the Oscars. However, the voice cast members don’t have to be in the same place, so this shouldn’t have held the franchise back.

The franchise was apparently dead long before that explosive Oscar moment. Madagascar 4 was scheduled in 2014 for a May 2018 release date, but DreamWorks Animation removed it from the schedule and never put it back, and it’s been years since that happened. That being said, there is hope for the franchise based on director Tom McGrath’s comments:

“I love the cast, I love these characters, they’re like my children in a way. There are things in progress, nothing has been announced yet, but I think they will show up once again…“

The only problem is, since that comment, McGrath has directed two Boss baby films and as the years went by, the chance to Madagascar 4 gets thinner and thinner.