Abandoned in Africa, four lost New York zoo animals - nervous lion Alex (Stiller), zany zebra Marty (Rock), geeky giraffe Melman (Schwimmer) and giddy hippo Gloria (Smith) - travel to Monte Carlo to find the mastermind monkeys and penguins who abandoned them. When tenacious animal control agent Dubois (McDormand) catches their scent, they hide out with a failing circus and join the performing animals - sexy cheetah Gia (Chastain), goofy sea lion Stefano (Short) and grumpy tiger Vitaly (Cranston) - to catch the eye of American promoters so they can get home.

The premise itself isn't too bad, as it allows the filmmakers to indulge in lots of wacky European stereotypes and colourful circus action, but the film is so hyperactive that it never does anything clever with any of it. Even Dubois, by far the most detailed character in the film, is reduced to a silly bloodhound awash in simplistic French cliches. And amid the cacophony of irrelevant sideplots (including a romance for Baron Cohen's lemur), the audience will find it impossible to engage with anything on screen.

That doesn't mean it isn't eye-catching. The animation is wacky and busy, packed with witty 3D gags and some genuinely gorgeous set pieces. The animals' big Cirque du Soleil-style performance in London is great fun to watch, even if it's an overwrought animated fantasy. And the film's climactic action sequence is packed with snappy details that are heavily signposted throughout the film.

So it's a real shame that the script fails to make anything of the characters themselves. The filmmakers have a terrific vocal cast that's developed a nice camaraderie, but the writers only give them simplistic gags while never building any sense of urgency or interest in the plot. So while we're never bored by what we're looking at, the absence of anything inventive leaves us squirming in our seats.

themes, violence

2.Sep.12