Some movies vacillate between good and bad.  Certain films can start off interesting and fall apart as they progress, while others may grow on you as they unspool (although it's a lot rarer for a failed project to save itself than for a quality to flick to go south). Unless it's a masterpiece or an unqualified disaster, most movies are going to have their pluses and minuses on display at different moments during their running time. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is that it maintains a quality that lives up to its title from minute one until the closing credits, and it's a rating perfectly in tune with its title - 2. Mere minutes into Madagascar 2, I knew it was a two-star film, a movie that would barely register in my mind outside of the theater. It was before the end of the first reel that I practically checked out of this subpar family movie on a mental level. Escape 2 Africa does just enough to satisfy fans of the first movie, but is that enough "2" justify its existence?

Here’s something to always keep in mind - Never trust a movie with a “2” literally in its title. There are some good sequel "2s" but, when it's used in a jokey way like a homonym, avoid it. Want proof? 2 Fast 2 Furious, Step Up 2 the Streets, Jungle 2 Jungle, and, now, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. From the very beginning, this "2" makes its intentions clear - to pound everything that audiences liked about the first movie into the ground like an ADD kid with a rubber mallet. So, after a prologue that sets up that a baby Alex (Ben Stiller) was separated from his parents (Bernie Mac & Sherri Shepherd) in Africa, we're back with not just the four main characters from the original - Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer), and Gloria the Hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) - but all the supporting ones too, including King Julien (Sacha Baron Cohen), his sidekick Maurice (Cedric the Entertainer), the monkeys (Andy Richter), and the movie-stealing penguins. Characters are again obsessed with singing "I Like to Move It" (the numbingly bad dance song from the original) and the antic, eager-to-please energy of the movie is set in stone. Remember what you liked about Madagascar? Well, be prepared to see it again, louder, and more than once.

Our gaggle of characters crash lands in Africa, where they happen to run into Alex's parents and a nefarious enemy lion named Makunga (Alec Baldwin). After a fight-gone-wrong, Alex is kicked off the reserve and forced to do something drastic to return. Meanwhile, Marty learns a lesson about individuality, and there's even a love triangle between two hippos and a giraffe. While these plots might be enough for one movie, nothing about Escape 2 Africa is done in moderation. So, the King needs to make a sacrifice to the volcano Gods, the penguins need to torment tourists (including the violent old lady from the first movie), and everyone needs to learn a lesson by about minute 80. It's cluttered but never involving.

The problem is that, even with this many characters, none of the action in Escape 2 Africa is given any time to develop. The voice work by the talented cast is good enough (although Rock is horrendously wasted), and the animation is actually an improvement over the original - both elements that go a long way in saving the film from complete disaster - but the screenplay is a mess. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is all shtick and repetition, something the little ones may find entertaining, but something that will drive parents 2 boredom, 2 another theater, or 2 ask for their money back.

Rating: TWO BONES

Reviewed by Brian Tallerico (MovieRetriever.com Film Critic)

Release Date: November 7th, 2008

Rating: PG

Starring (the voices of): Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith, David Schwimmer, Bernie Mac, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, Sherri Shepherd, and Alec Baldwin

Directors: Eric Darnell & Tom McGrath

Writer: Etan Cohen, Eric Darnell & Tom McGrath