Blu-Ray Review:
Madagascar 2
By Jason Gillard
*Screen shots are not from the Blu-Ray source.
Movie
I never saw the first Madagascar movie. I meant to, but never got around to it. Now that my daughter has turned 4 she actually likes watching movies with her dad. If a movie comes out that I have an opportunity to review that I think she would like, we end up watching it together. Madagascar 2: Escape From Africa is about a band of animals that had escaped from the Zoo in New York only to be shipwrecked on a remote island. They get on a rickety old plane piloted by those crazy penguins and head off for New York. The plane has to make a crash landing. The end up landing in Africa, their homeland. Alex the lion reconnects with his father, Marty the zebra realizes he isn't as special as he thought, Gloria the hippo decided its time to settle down and Melman the Giraffe decides to go after the love of his life. While all this is going on, Makunga, a manipulative lion, gets Alex and his dad banished. While Alex and his dad are banished the very important water holes dries up and it's up to Alex and his friends to save the day. Overall I thought the movie was OK. There were a couple of spots that I thought were quite funny, but there was also a lot of silence on my end as well. Kids will love it, but adults might want to rent it first.
7 out of 10
Video
As with most CG animated films these days the transfers are usually perfect. I am happy to say that this is the case here as well. Everything looks crystal clear. The colours really jump out at you like scenes in the jungle etc. Black levels are strong as well. Detail is also fantastic. Animals fur, the airplane, the jungle all come across looking spectacular. I didn't detect anything wrong with this transfer. From the moment you start the movie your jaw will drop at how awesome everything looks. Overall I really don't see how Paramount could have improved this transfer, it looks flawless and it's definitely demo material.
10 out of 10
Audio
Like the transfer the audio quality is fantastic too. The surrounds are used quite a bit and there is a lot of deep bass in many of the scenes. I also thought that the dialogue was well mixed. Not once did I have to strain to hear what was being said and I never had to reach for the remote to turn things down. There were a lot of scenes that stand out but if I had to pick one it would be the plane crash. This scene has got everything. Explosions, scraping metal and great surround effects and deep bass. Turn up the volume and blow your neighbors away. Overall they have done a phenomenal job here and it's definitely great.
10 out of 10
Extras
Here is what you get in the way of extras:
Audio Commentary
The Animators Corner
Production Featurettes
Jambo Jambo
The Bronx Zoo and Madagascar
Music Videos
Trivia Track
Air Penguins
Dreamworks Animation Video Jukebox
BD-Live
If I had to pick out some of my favorite extras, I would have to go with the production featurettes. Now these are really included to promote the film, but they do go into more depth in the making of the film. I also liked the Animators Corner. This feature plays the audio commentary, but shows things like story boards and behind the scenes images. It's not bad and definitely gives you some insight into what it takes to make an animated film.
8 out of 10
Overall
Overall if you have kids or you're a kid at heart, Madagascar 2 is a fun film. The blu-ray disc is getting you awesome picture and sound and a decent collection of extras. I think Sony has done a good job here and I will be recommending this to pretty much any age group.
9 out of 10
Madagascar 2 Blu-ray is available now from Amazon.com