Just got back from seeing this movie with the wife and we both loved it. We laughed the entire way thru. Lots of funny movie references and inside jokes for adults. Great animation and lots of fun.

I was looking for other opinions and there was not one thread on it. No one else saw it this weekend?

I saw it at a preview showing and I thought it was awful. Not as bad as Shark Tale, but well below the quality of the Pixar stuff, imo. The positives for me were that some of the secondary characters(like the penguins and the monkeys)were cute and visually, they did a decent job(Shark Tale didn't even look good). The negatives are that half of the movie seemed to consist of the 4 main characters arguing with each other. It was frequently dull and the voiceovers, especially David Schwimmer(ugh) were weak.

I saw a pre-screening of this too. The movie was visually pleasing but lacked any real substance.

The NYC montage was great but when they get to Madagascar it loses a lot of steam. That entire Hyena thing was stupid (calling them Foosas was ever dumber).

The penguins were the best part of the movie.

I've definitely seen a lot worse but this was by no means a great movie.

Kids will love it though and Chris Rock cracks enough jokes to make it entertaining.

2 out of 4 stars.

This is what you are doing instead of playing Halo... shame my friend... shame..

I saw it yesterday, though I'm not a fan of any of the actors doing the voice work. The penguins were my favorites, also, and the little lemur was adorably cute (though ruined when it spoke, however, as the voice was all wrong). It just seemed they didn't go anywhere very imaginative with the storyline. (And what's with having the monkeys on the ship if they never leave the darned crate?!)

The penguins were good and everything else was terrible.

When I first saw the previews, I said "The penguins will be the best part of the movie, I have a feeling." It seems that I was right, judging from you guys. This hasn't deterred me from going and seeing it, which I may have to do this week. I forgot when it was coming out. I'm not expecting Pixar greatness, but it doesn't stop me from enjoying Felix the Cat, either.

i like to move it, move it.

Took the niece and nephews to see this movie. They loved it and I thought it was not that great. The most memorable part of the movie was the "Chicken Little" preview. The penquins and monkeys were the only shining spot for this film. There was an adult female in the audience would loved this movie, at the rate she was laughing over the surround sound system.

Pixar has you all spoiled.

I haven't seen it but I figured it was in trouble when the commercial for HP is more entertaining than the actual movie trailer.

Saw it on Friday. The penguins were the best part IMHO. It was a really up and down movie. There were a few obligatory "for the adults" jokes thrown in. Overall I enjoyed it better than Shark Tale and less than any of the Pixar films.

I saw about 15 minutes of this back before the new year, when it wasn't quite finished (the last 5 minutes or so were just pencil sketches with the voice-over). I thought it looked like one of the best animated films in ages. Of course, those 15 minutes focused on their time on the boat and whatnot, so the penguins (everybody's favorite part, as far as I could tell) got a lot of screentime. Shame to hear that the rest of the film didn't live up to what we were shown.

-JP

Shark Tale looked amazing! I hope this movie is as good as it. I will see it today or tomorrow.

Dreadful film. Truly dreadful. My kids (7 and 8 yrs old) fell asleep 20 and 30 minutes into the movie. Hard to believe it took 4 people to write that garbage.

Avoid at all costs!

MY mom went and saw it before I did this weekend and she told me to skip it. She loved all cartoons but this one was boring to her. She said she got a few laughs but its something to rent or wait for on tv. I think ill do that.

So it's like Shrek 2?

I thought this movie sucked. I didn't think it was funny at all. Actually thought Kicking and Screaming was a better movie.

I wouldn't go that far...Kicking and Screaming was terrible.

too true...

I agree with most of you, I thought the penguins were great, but the rest was slow once they got on the island. I took my 5 yearold niece to see it, and she said she liked it, but she was entranced and didn't move for the first half-hour, but once the got on the island, she was looking for icecream unless the penguins were on the screen.

I thought shrek 2 was much better, I actually liked shrek 2...

I second Kicking and Screaming being better. I saw them both at a drive-in with my two daughters and while they enjoyed Madagascar, I just found it lacking. It had a few funny moments, but nothing memorable and the story was next to nothing. I had high hopes after reading a review mentioning the lemurs and them singing a cool song....then to find it wasn't even an original song, but that annoying "I like to move it, move it" song.

Kicking and Screaming wasn't anything special either, in fact without Ferrell it would have blown completely, but I definitely enjoyed it a hell of a lot more than Madagascar.

I only quit playing because I heard you had quit.

I am just really surprised at the opinions here. I thought it was much better than Shrek (never did get the appeal and never saw Shrek 2). My wife and I laughed as much (or even more) at this film than The Incredibles.

I agree that Schwimmer was weak and the Penguins were the best but I thought Stiller did a good job as the lion. We thought the lemurs were funny as were the adult "in" jokes...and we weren't the only ones. All the adults in the theater were laughing hard and seemed to be enjoying it more than the kids (which was exactly the same at our viewing of The Incredibles).

Maybe I was just in a really good mood since our 14 month old was at Grandma's for the weekend??? But everyone else seemed to have a good time too. I am just very surprised at the harsh opinions.

By the way, the animation was great. We saw the DLP showing and the picture quality was fantastic.

Metacritic & Rotten Tomatoes both have the critics at 55% but their users are around 75% so at least I know I am not going crazy.

My kids (5 and 2) loved it. While I agree it was no Toy Story, it did have its moments. I loved the Twilight Zone reference.

That one got me too. Unfortunately I was the only one in the theater who got it........