All the loveable characters are back - Alex the lion, Marty the zebra, Melman the giraffe and Gloria the hippo, King Julien, Maurice and the penguins - in "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa." Left marooned on the distant shores of Madagascar, the New Yorkers have hatched a plan so crazy it just might work. With military precision, the penguins have repaired an old crashed plan - sort of. Once aloft, this unlikely crew stays airborne just enough to make it to the wildest place of all - the vast plains of Africa itself - where our zoo-raised crew encounter species of their own kind for the very first time. While discovering their roots, they quickly realize the difference between the concrete jungle and the heart of Africa. Despite long-lost relatives, romantic rivals and scheming hunters, Africa seems like a "crack-a-lackin" great place... but is it better than their Central Park home?

MOVIE REVIEW

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa arrived on DVD yesterday, much to my delight. The original Madagascar was surprisingly entertaining, and there was no reason why its sequel - which was a given as soon as the first one surpassed the $150 mark - would be in any different. Unless DreamWorks hired a new writer and that man stayed up all night drinking to come up with a good idea, and that good idea was to rip off The Lion King.
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