When I watched the first Madagascar, I had low expectations. Some of those low expectations were met: the animation was unimpressive and the moral was derivative and predictable. And yet I liked it. The penguins and Mort (the lemur with unnaturally big eyes) stole the show.
Going into the second Madagascar film I again had low expectations (in part due to this trailer and its soundtrack). As far as I could tell, the animation didn't improve much in this film. But that doesn't bother me so much. Again, the morals were predictable and cliché. But really, what do expect from a movie for kids?
Perhaps my memory is murky, but I think this film had more subtle messages about homosexuality (a male character dresses in drag and asks other characters if they're attracted to him, a hippo and a giraffe fall in love and the audience is briefly tricked into believing that they get married [1], etc.).
My verdict: Not quite as good as the first movie, but still enjoyable. If you're a concerned parent, be prepared to discuss some issues with your children.
Notes:
[1] This isn't a direct reference to homosexuality, but it could be construed to teach children that it's okay to think outside of traditional marriage structures. I'm also of the opinion that the Disney film Brother Bear teaches children that it's okay to change your physical body to match "who you are inside" (i.e. sex reassignment surgeries). And Shark Tale can be construed to mean that it's okay to indulge in homosexual tendencies and parents should be more tolerant of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment