Madagascar
DreamWorks Distribution | Release Date: May 27, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
57
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 36 Critic Reviews
Positive:
18
Mixed:
16
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Dishes up some very corny jokes, but the images have a brighter-than-life vivacity. Read full review
88
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
The animals' personalities have been carefully calibrated: They have sufficient edge to amuse us as characters, yet they're cuddly enough to market as plush toys or action figures. Read full review
83
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
It could be more involving, but it's funny enough that you won't care. Read full review
80
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
It's bright and spry, giggly and bouncy, but also cuddly with occasional touches of cruelty--a movie in which best friends, when let loose in the wild, suddenly realize one's a little higher on the food chain. Read full review
80
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Despite Madagascar's formulaic tendencies, it's a formula that works, so parents are urged to sit back, relax and enjoy -- the kids surely will. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
Forget life lessons: I much prefer a lemur king doing the robot. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
This slight and amusing 'toon is mostly a trip designed for the kiddie crowd to take in. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia Puig
The thin story, which sometimes feels like a series of one-liners strung together, is wisely kept short. But the gags are funny and the characters endearing. Read full review
75
PremierePeter Debruge
It's a brisk and lively getaway with genuine personality. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
Madagascar doesn't do much, except make you laugh. All hail such a minimalist approach. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Madagascar isn't deep and would have no business being deep. But that it keeps one foot in reality is enough to keep us guessing. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Madagascar is a classical gas. It's a good-humored, pleasant confection that has all kinds of relaxed fun bringing computer-animated savvy to the old-fashioned world of Looney Tunes cartoons. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
The tenor can be shrill, but there's no time to get bored. And on top of that, most of the gags actually work. Read full review
70
TimeRichard Corliss
Savvy family entertainment. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Eventually, it had to happen: a computer-animated dud. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Often feels like a cartoon that wishes it were live action. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Antic, cute, scattershot, it's a remarkable-looking but terribly uncertain bit of CGI fluff, with its richest humor off to the sides of the action and a whole lot of average in the middle. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Madagascar is funny, especially at the beginning, and good-looking in a retro cartoon way, but in a world where the stakes have been raised by "Finding Nemo," "Shrek" and "The Incredibles," it's a throwback to a more conventional kind of animated entertainment. It'll be fun for the smaller kids, but there's not much crossover appeal for their parents. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterMichael Rechtshaffen
It's frustrating to see this wonderful-looking, laugh-out-loud funny survival tale fall short of its potential. Read full review
60
VarietyDennis Harvey
Pleasant, if mediocre family fare. Read full review
60
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
Madagascar's relaxed density is a relief given the DreamWorks tendency to overbear, overblast, and overcaricaturize. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineAngel Cohn
Slickly animated and cleverly written. Read full review
60
EmpireIan Freer
Spirited, amiable, featherweight summer fun. Read full review
50
The New YorkerDavid Denby
Often quite beautiful. But Madagascar, which was directed by Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath, is mismanaged pretty much from start to finish. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneAllison Benedikt
The film never gets going. It's too slow and plodding for kids--even too obvious. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Less like "Shrek," meaning hilarious and heartfelt, and more like "Shark Tale," meaning manic and exhausting, Madagascar will keep kids distracted without transporting them to wonderland. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
The plot really is basic, so the bafflement of the movie lies in its combination of visual riches and dramatic -- as well as thematic -- impoverishment.
50
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
The whole thing feels throwaway, but some of the gags are funny. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Looks stunning, but it's an ill-conceived mess that plays like two movies awkwardly spliced together. In one movie, parents are asked to stand by while the kids are entertained with cute animal tricks and slapstick pratfalls. In the other, the kids will be hushed while the parents are treated to inside jokes. Read full review
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
More than a few will agree with the penguins, who netted the film a PG rating with the utterance, "Well, this sucks." Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Credit Madagascar with negotiating a hopeful truce in the ongoing battle between the computer and the animation. Judged merely by appearances, its look is a lovely compromise. Too bad everything else has been compromised right out of existence. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
By and large it's formulaic and dull. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Anemic. Read full review
40
The New York TimesDana Stevens
Madagascar arouses no sense of wonder, except insofar as you wonder, as you watch it, how so much talent, technical skill and money could add up to so little. Read full review
30
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
The underwhelming, only fitfully amusing movie left me hungry for more. Read full review
25
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The animation is deft but the screenplay is stilted, the voice-performances are unimaginative, and the whole project is surprisingly clumsy in its efforts to please young and old alike. A major disappointment. Read full review
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