Alex the lion is the king of the urban jungle, the main attraction at New York's Central Park Zoo. He and his best friends—Marty the zebra, Melman the giraffe and Gloria the hippo—have spent their whole lives in blissful captivity before an admiring public and with regular meals provided for them. Not content to leave well enough alone, Marty lets his curiosity get the better of him and makes his escape—with the help of some prodigious penguins—to explore the world.
Madagascar is great good fun, not only because the filmmakers have enlisted some wonderful voice talent but also because the visuals truly are marvelous.
– Ann Hornaday,
Washington Post,
27 May 2005
rotten:
It paints itself into a very bizarre corner because at first, they are all friends and then all of a sudden they revert to being more like real animals. How do you do that and make it funny? Well, you don't.
– Richard Roeper,
Ebert & Roeper,
31 May 2005
rotten:
Lacking any meat on its bones, ['Madagascar'] is a cartoon about nothing. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
– Joe Williams,
St. Louis Post-Dispatch,
1 Jun 2005
fresh:
The tenor can be shrill, but there's no time to get bored. And on top of that, most of the gags actually work.
– Tasha Robinson,
AV Club,
26 Sep 2005
fresh:
Lame scatalogical gags and worn pop-culture parodies abound, but the CGI animation romp is somewhat redeemed by the scene-stealing appearances of several supporting characters.