First up was Madagascar 3 with series regulars Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath joined by a third director for "Europe's Most Wanted" in Conrad Vernon, a long-time DreamWorks vet who co-directed Monsters vs. Aliens and has been involved with most of their animated movies going back pre-Shrek. They gave us a quick recap of the two previous movies and how the four zoo animal friends--Alex the lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer) and Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith)--had been left stranded in Africa by the penguins, who had gone off to gamble in Monte Carlo. They're ready to go back home to New York City, so they go to retrieve the penguins leading to a trip across Europe visiting places like Rome, London and the Swiss Alps.
The directors then introduced Ben Stiller and Chris Rock who came out and did a bit of awkward impromptu riffing before introducing the footage, which would essentially be the first 25 minutes of the movie, starting with the four zoo friends staking out Monte Carlo from the bay wearing snorkels like in the poster image. They talk over their plan to sneak into the casino--being animals, they're not going to exactly be welcome there--confront the penguins for leaving them in Africa, then figure out a way to get back to New York.
Along for the ride are King Julian (voiced by Sacha Baron Cohen), and his fellow lemurs Maurice (Cedric the Entertainer) and Mort (Andy Richter), who don't understand the concept of "stealth" as they make their way to the roof of the casino and figure a way in. Once inside in a space above the casino floor, they look down through a large glass skylight to an odd-looking character at the roulette table, all dressed up in wigs and make-up like the King of Versailles, but it's actually a front for the monkeys and penguins, who have created a command center for themselves inside this front where they make decisions on what number to pick in roulette.
While they're crunching the numbers with computers to figure out their next move, the zoo animals high above them try to figure out their plan. There's a bit of tension between Alex and Marty about who should be the leader, and Gloria finally gets sick of it and lunges forward as her weight sends all of them crashing through the glass skylight onto the casino floor and when the people see them they scream and run off, so they quickly try to escape.
We then cut to the introduction of Captain Dubois of France's Animal Control, voiced by Frances McDormand, her office decorated with all sorts of animal heads showing that she means business, and when she hears that animals are loose in the casino, she makes that her #1 mission to capture them.
At the casino, the animals are still trying to escape, and Skipper the penguin whistles, calling a large RV (driven by another penguin) that crashes through the wall and as the animals pile in, the RV proceeds to destroy the casino as it haphazardly drives out. After it crashes through the front doors, the entire place explodes into flames behind them. From out of those flames comes Dubois on a Vespa, as we watch a chase sequence where so much was going on, it's hard to describe everything in a lot of detail. (It was similar in that way to the chase sequence in Kung Fu Panda 2.) Dubois is like the T1000 though, completely unstoppable as the animals try to get away from her, racing through the streets and tunnels of Monte Carlo with her riding a scooter with her men behind her. Even when the penguins release a stream of fishes behind the jeep, she raises her scooter over her head and slides through them.
The animals end up at a make-shift airplane with a string of monkeys chained together to form a ladder as they make their escape and Dubois turns up on top of a building and she takes her scooter on a spectacular jump across the buildings, a distance which would seem impossible to jump but she leaps off the scooter at the last minute to make the last bit of the jump and land on the building as the last of the animals board the flying machine.
As seems to be the case every time they get together, their makeshift plane crashes leaving them in a trainyard, still being chased by Dubois' men, and when they see the train for the Circus Zaragosa and Alex gets an idea. A tiger appears blocking the door to the train car, this being the Russian tiger Vitali, voiced by Bryan Cranston, and he's joined by Gia, the cheetah voiced by Jessica Chastain and the Italian sea lion Stefano, voiced by Martin Short. Marty and Alex convince them that they're circus animals so they allow them inside as the train pulls away and they're able to avoid their pursuers.
Stefano is more open to the guests but Vitali is suspicious and we see him using his knife-throwing skills to intimidate their guests, who try to convince them that they are circus animals. Vitali tells them the circus doesn't stand for stowaways, but just as he's saying this, we see the penguins, monkeys and lemurs sneaking their way on board, but when they're caught, Skipper says that it's up to the owners of the circus whether they can stay. Cut to the same King of Versailles character from the casino, pulling out a pouch full of gems and dumping it in front of the circus owner who gives them the deed to the circus as he and the circus clowns pile into a tiny car and drive off.
After that, one of the directors came out to introduce another clip, a less finished sequence from later in the movie after the zoo animals have reworked the circus to be something more modern (and clearly inspired by Cirque du Soleil). We watch the performance, a huge light-filled spectacle with all the animals flying in the around the amphitheater to the tune of Katy Perry's "Firework," a sequence that turns into a montage where we see agents presenting a contract to the circus to go on an American tour.
Before we moved on, we were shown a rough 3D trailer for the movie--with no comment on when we might see it--essentially telling the same story we learned from the 25 minutes of footage, although there were a few other scenes, mainly with the zoo animals trying to adjust to circus life. We watch Melman trying to balance on a tight rope and Marty showing the others his circus act, essentially a bit of clowning around wearing a rainbow afro, which will likely be the bit that kids enjoy the most.
It's hard to tell whether Madagascar 3 will be a big step up from its predecessor, though it does seem like it won't just be the four main animal friends as the penguins, monkeys and lemurs seems to be a lot more involved with every step of the story, which also seems a lot more action-driven than the last couple movies.
The directors then introduced Ben Stiller and Chris Rock who came out and did a bit of awkward impromptu riffing before introducing the footage, which would essentially be the first 25 minutes of the movie, starting with the four zoo friends staking out Monte Carlo from the bay wearing snorkels like in the poster image. They talk over their plan to sneak into the casino--being animals, they're not going to exactly be welcome there--confront the penguins for leaving them in Africa, then figure out a way to get back to New York.
Along for the ride are King Julian (voiced by Sacha Baron Cohen), and his fellow lemurs Maurice (Cedric the Entertainer) and Mort (Andy Richter), who don't understand the concept of "stealth" as they make their way to the roof of the casino and figure a way in. Once inside in a space above the casino floor, they look down through a large glass skylight to an odd-looking character at the roulette table, all dressed up in wigs and make-up like the King of Versailles, but it's actually a front for the monkeys and penguins, who have created a command center for themselves inside this front where they make decisions on what number to pick in roulette.
While they're crunching the numbers with computers to figure out their next move, the zoo animals high above them try to figure out their plan. There's a bit of tension between Alex and Marty about who should be the leader, and Gloria finally gets sick of it and lunges forward as her weight sends all of them crashing through the glass skylight onto the casino floor and when the people see them they scream and run off, so they quickly try to escape.
We then cut to the introduction of Captain Dubois of France's Animal Control, voiced by Frances McDormand, her office decorated with all sorts of animal heads showing that she means business, and when she hears that animals are loose in the casino, she makes that her #1 mission to capture them.
At the casino, the animals are still trying to escape, and Skipper the penguin whistles, calling a large RV (driven by another penguin) that crashes through the wall and as the animals pile in, the RV proceeds to destroy the casino as it haphazardly drives out. After it crashes through the front doors, the entire place explodes into flames behind them. From out of those flames comes Dubois on a Vespa, as we watch a chase sequence where so much was going on, it's hard to describe everything in a lot of detail. (It was similar in that way to the chase sequence in Kung Fu Panda 2.) Dubois is like the T1000 though, completely unstoppable as the animals try to get away from her, racing through the streets and tunnels of Monte Carlo with her riding a scooter with her men behind her. Even when the penguins release a stream of fishes behind the jeep, she raises her scooter over her head and slides through them.
The animals end up at a make-shift airplane with a string of monkeys chained together to form a ladder as they make their escape and Dubois turns up on top of a building and she takes her scooter on a spectacular jump across the buildings, a distance which would seem impossible to jump but she leaps off the scooter at the last minute to make the last bit of the jump and land on the building as the last of the animals board the flying machine.
As seems to be the case every time they get together, their makeshift plane crashes leaving them in a trainyard, still being chased by Dubois' men, and when they see the train for the Circus Zaragosa and Alex gets an idea. A tiger appears blocking the door to the train car, this being the Russian tiger Vitali, voiced by Bryan Cranston, and he's joined by Gia, the cheetah voiced by Jessica Chastain and the Italian sea lion Stefano, voiced by Martin Short. Marty and Alex convince them that they're circus animals so they allow them inside as the train pulls away and they're able to avoid their pursuers.
Stefano is more open to the guests but Vitali is suspicious and we see him using his knife-throwing skills to intimidate their guests, who try to convince them that they are circus animals. Vitali tells them the circus doesn't stand for stowaways, but just as he's saying this, we see the penguins, monkeys and lemurs sneaking their way on board, but when they're caught, Skipper says that it's up to the owners of the circus whether they can stay. Cut to the same King of Versailles character from the casino, pulling out a pouch full of gems and dumping it in front of the circus owner who gives them the deed to the circus as he and the circus clowns pile into a tiny car and drive off.
After that, one of the directors came out to introduce another clip, a less finished sequence from later in the movie after the zoo animals have reworked the circus to be something more modern (and clearly inspired by Cirque du Soleil). We watch the performance, a huge light-filled spectacle with all the animals flying in the around the amphitheater to the tune of Katy Perry's "Firework," a sequence that turns into a montage where we see agents presenting a contract to the circus to go on an American tour.
Before we moved on, we were shown a rough 3D trailer for the movie--with no comment on when we might see it--essentially telling the same story we learned from the 25 minutes of footage, although there were a few other scenes, mainly with the zoo animals trying to adjust to circus life. We watch Melman trying to balance on a tight rope and Marty showing the others his circus act, essentially a bit of clowning around wearing a rainbow afro, which will likely be the bit that kids enjoy the most.
It's hard to tell whether Madagascar 3 will be a big step up from its predecessor, though it does seem like it won't just be the four main animal friends as the penguins, monkeys and lemurs seems to be a lot more involved with every step of the story, which also seems a lot more action-driven than the last couple movies.
“Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted” (June 8): Life at the Central Park Zoo might be ideal, but lion Alex (Ben Stiller), zebra Marty (Chris Rock), giraffe Melman (David Schwimmer) and hippo Gloria (Jada Pinkett Smith) must rush off to Monaco, where they join a traveling circus. Look for Alex’s love interest jaguar Gia (Jessica Chastain).
OMG When I saw this i nearly flipped. When I first saw Gia, I just thought that shewas just charming him to help her do stuff. But after seeing this, I know for sure that Alex the lion and Gia the Jaguar are going to fall in love. What do you guys think of this? It's about time they got Alex a girlfriend. She is cute for him.