Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2012) - Movie Review for Parents

Bottom line: Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted is a colorful and zany film which, like the previous 2 movies, relies heavily on slapstick, situational and at times obnoxious comedy to make kids and families laugh.

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted - Overview

Still stuck in Africa, our friends Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Gloria the Hippo, and Melman the Giraffe have decided to stop waiting for the penguins to save them and save themselves. Planning to meet the penguins in Monte Carlo and head home from there, they set off snorkeling. They are able to find the mischievous penguins, but trouble ensues when an overzealous animal control officer, Capitaine Chantel DuBois, gets wind of them.

With the wicked witch of animal control on their tails, our zoo friends happen upon a traveling circus. They decide to join the circus, which they hope will impress a sponsor who will take them straight to NYC. Unfortunately, the circus is less than stellar.

In his own charismatic way, Alex convinces the circus animals -- including Jaguar Gia, Vitaly the tiger, and Stefano the seal -- to try a few new acts. With a little practice in a quaint European countryside, the animals get their act together and revamp the show into a spectacular event. However, in order to get back to NY for good, our animal friends must deal with the unrelenting antics of DuBois and figure out how to appease the new friends who now rely on their help.

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted - Guide Review for Parents

In tone and content, Madagascar 3 is similar to the previous movies (Madagascar and Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa) in the franchise. The movie contains some definite funny moments for the whole family, and kids will love the crazy animal antics and the wild and colorful circus theme.

While not stellar, the animation is colorful and the animals are a lot of fun. The story is a bit lacking in substance but works just enough to carry the film and make a good sell to kids. The new characters in the story are hit and miss. The infamous Catitaine Chantel DuBois is a real charmer, while the brooding Vitaly really could have had a better back story. As always, the movie is full of pumping tunes, and kids will love the inclusion of Katy Perry's "Firework." A note to parents, however, get ready to hear the funny but highly obnoxious Afro Circus song sung over and over.

Madagascar 3 contains some mild action that may be tense or slightly frightening for young kids. Some mildly insulting phrases are used. Mostly, the movie is just a colorful, zany high action flick with a lot of cartoon style peril -- think crazy animal car chases and penguins and chimps causing all kinds of mischief. For a more detailed description of possibly offensive or scary content, please see the overview below.

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted - Content Overview

• Violence (Medium): This film contains a high amount of slapstick and cartoon violence. Car chases causing major damage, car and other vehicle accidents and more. DuBois chases the animals all over Europe trying to shoot them with tranquilizers. Vitaly has a love of knife throwing and sometimes does so in a threatening way with many near misses.
• Scary Scenes (Low): While there are several scenes of peril and high action that may be tense or slightly frightening for young children, there are not many scary characters or suspenseful/frightening scenes in the movie. The only scene of note is when the characters meet the circus bear. At first they only see her glowing eyes and hear threatening sounds.
• Sex/Nudity (Low): King Julian falls in love with the circus bear, which leads to a romance and some jokes with mild innuendo.
• Drugs and Alcohol (Low) We briefly see drinks being served at a casino. In a comical scene, a monkey looks like he's smoking a banana.

• Language (Low): A few mildly insulting phrases are used. No profanity.
• Disrespectful/Imitative Behavior (Extreme): The penguins and chimps are living it up in Monte Carlo gambling and using other means to obtain money and treasures. The chimps destroy a hotel room rock star style. A circus elephant sits on a boy, and the boy gets stuck in the elephants bottom. Alex and friends lie to the circus animals about who they are and where they come from. Capitaine DuBois captures and kills animals in order to display their heads on her wall. Kids are likely to imitate some of the jokes and songs from the movie, like the Afro Circus song that Marty sings..
• Sad/Unsettling Scenes (Low): The circus animals feel betrayed when they find out the zoo animals lied to them and misled them.
• Movie Topics Kids Might Have Questions About: circus life, treatment of animals in the zoo, animal control, killing animals for sport, friendship and betrayal