Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted begins with Alex the Lion (voiced by Ben Stiller), Marty the Zebra (voiced by Chris Rock), Melman the Giraffe (voiced by David Schwimmer) and Gloria the Hippo (voiced by Jada Pinkett-Smith) opens with the four animals still stuck in Africa and still pining for their homes in the New York Zoo. But it doesn’t take long before they’ve left Africa for Monte Carlo and a series of madcap adventures involving a casino, a dogged animal control officer and, ultimately, a dilapidated circus in search of a new star.



The action in Madagascar 3 unfurls at a fairly breathless pace. A frantic chase through the streets of Monte Carlo is an early highlight and precious little time is wasted before the directors ramp things up again. By the time the story settles in to its calmer sequences involving Alex’s attempts to get the circus back on it’s feet, many younger viewers will already have gotten what they came for.

Which is not to say that the film doesn’t deliver in its second half. The introduction of the circus is a smart move, as it introduces a host of new animals (including Vitaly the Tiger voiced by Bryan Cranston and Gia the Jaguar voiced by Jessica Chastain) and allows the creators to deliver a few earnest messages, before closing the film with a couple of stunning animation extravaganzas.

The two performances by the revitalized circus are, in fact, breathtaking. Neon-drenched, hyperkinetic, hyper-stylised dream-circuses, they stand among the best animated sequences in recent memory.  Much like real-life circuses, they’ll thrill audiences of all ages; the biggest challenge may be getting the kids to calm down when the movie ends. Fortunately, the ending is open enough that you can almost guarantee them they’ll be back in the cinema for Madagascar 4.

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted opens in cinemas in South Africa tomorrow (Fri 15 Jun).