Madagascar 2

With The Wife™ out of town leaving me and our daughter to fend for ourselves for a few days, last night seemed like the perfect time to pack the little one up and take her to see "Madagascar 2." We hit the theater at that sweet spot of 4:00, late enough that she was in a post-nap state of happiness and early enough to still snag that $7.50 matinee ticket price. Once in the theater, the local ghetto AMC with sticky as hell floors, ratted out seats and generally rude crowds, we almost had to turn right around and leave. The Kid™ is generally not fazed or scared by the movie going experience, but whoever was in charge of the "pre-show entertainment" managed to have the speaking volume cranked really low and the music blasting so loud it even bothered the adults, much less the kids. So, we spent the first 5-10 minjutes with a ball of energy in my lap, oscillating between being completely stoked to see the Move It Move It movie and being scared out of her wits.

Once the trailers started, things calmed down and she settled in next to me with a big pile of popcorn in her lap. She informed me that we "haveta go see "Bolt!" He's a kinda dog." By the time the movie's opening credits began to roll, all was well in Toddlerland.

For the most part, it was an OK movie. The opening sequence could ahve been a little scary for kids slightly older than 2.5 - it went right over my daughter's head, thankfully.There's a bit too much of Alex the lion, not nearly enough of the penguins and the other three leads somehow managed to get relegated to supporting character status in this, but I've spent worse evenings in the theater. It was a little bittersweet to hear Bernie Mac's voice unexpectedly spout from the mouth of a lion, and it wasn't until the closing credits that I realized that Will.I.Am voiced the big hippo. It wasn't a patch on Pixar's flicks, but it wasn't dreck either - sort of like the Boboli to Pixar's NY slice. Not nearly as good, but totally acceptable if you happen to be in the mood.

The important thing, though, is that the kids in the theater loved it, my daughter included. She's developing quite a little gut laugh, and it cracked me up to hear her laughing at spots when the rest of the theater was dead silent. I was a bit concerned about the violence in the last trailer, but it was pretty much off-camera for the most part, and what they did show was totally ridiculous and not at all frightening. Still, if your little one is a bit on the skittish side, you may want to wait a while and maybe save this for home viewing. As for me, I totally see "Madagascar 2" becoming a Heavy Rotation DVD in the Nerd Dad CA HQ, ASAP.