"C+" Rating by Robert W. Hammerle

Oh, if only "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" lived up to the promise of its previews. Alas, we were taunted with the image of a movie centering around the best characters, namely those four irascible penguins and King Julien, only to find that they have extraordinarily minor roles in this rather tepid remake of the mildly enjoyable original.

At least in the two thoroughly likable "Ice Age" movies we knew in advance that the adorable Scrat would only occasionally appear in his eternal quest to lay claim to his beloved acorn. Furthermore, Manny (Ray Romano), Sid (John Leguizamo) and Diego (Denis Leary) had some genuine chemistry.

However, and while it genuinely pains me to say this, most of the scenes involving Ben Stiller's lion, Chris Rock's zebra, David Schwimmer's extraordinarily un-amusing giraffe and Jada Pinkett Smith's tedious hippo were borderline dull. The dialogue was largely uninspired, not to mention all but lacking in any meaningful creativity, and I am perplexed beyond words how the talented Etan Cohen could have been one of the co-writers of this disappointment.

There surely can't be much disagreement that any fun to be derived from this movie all but totally centered on the misadventures of Skipper and his three loyal penguin colleagues. Their irreverent good humor and unquenchable enthusiasm simply is a mischievous delight for adults and children alike.

In particular, their attempts to repair an old cargo plane and fly everyone back to New York at the outset of this film brings a sense of anticipation that was never fulfilled. For example, as they were about to be catapulted into the air, one of the penguins tells the passengers that in case of an emergency, they were to don plastic masks that fell from the ceiling so that the other passengers would not see the look of terror on their faces! Oh, if the rest of this film could have only danced close to such delicious dialogue.

In addition, it is simply mystifying why directors' Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath decided to all but ignore one of the most likable characters of the first film, namely King Julien, who was again voiced by the multi-talented Sacha Baron Cohen. Ever the egocentric, his one lengthy scene concerned his idiotic enthusiasm towards ending a drought by offering a live victim to a volcano's molten fire. When his colleague Maurice (Cedric The Entertainer) questions the underlying rationale, King Julien responds, as only King Julien could, in words to the effect, "And why shouldn't it work? After all, all of the science is there!"

Unfortunately, these precious moments are lost in one maudlin scene after another in which we have to watch Stiller's lion reconnect with his lost parents, not to mention Schwimmer's giraffe and Pinkett Smith's hippo engage in an embarrassing courtship. Quite frankly, "Madagascar 2" reminded me of the regrettable Republican choice for Vice President, Sarah Palin. Attractively packaged in the promos, there was, in reality, no one home.

And while I don't mean to drone on about this movie's deficiencies, I must note a scene where Stiller's urban lion and his "jungle" father dance together to avoid captors bent on their destruction. Not only was it painful to watch, but it paled in comparison to the tremendous dance finale that we witnessed in the rightly acclaimed "Happy Feet" (2006).

In concluding, I should note that I took my two grandchildren and Saudi exchange student along with me when I went to see this sequel. "Z," who is 17, thought that it was largely equivalent to the first movie. My grandson, who will soon be 10, thought it was slightly better, while my granddaughter, who just turned 7, thought it wasn't as good. Since the only times I heard real laughter in the film occurred during the incredibly few scenes involving our penguin friends and King Julien, I can only alert parents that they should go with modest expectations.