Movie info from IMDB
Movie reviews from Metacritic
Try as I might I can’t help myself, I just HAVE to compare this to Pixar’s offerings and, alas, it falls woefully short. But that’s not really important, after all this is aimed at the kiddies, so from their viewpoint, does it hit the mark?
The story of two best friends, a zebra and a lion, and how we can overcome any obstacle for our friends – like stopping yourself from wanting to eat him for example – this is a silly lightweight movie with some genuinely funny moments, and some nicely rounded characters. And yes, the part with the little cute fluffy duck was my favourite bit. Predictable as it was.
The voices helped, Chris Rock and Ben Stiller doing a great job, Jada Pinkett-Smith as the wise-crackin’ “mama” hippo was excellent, David Schwimmer’s giraffe was a tad OTT though (if that’s possible), and while visually it’s nothing we haven’t seen before it is still very well done. Story-wise it’s a no-brainer, but they throw in plenty of gags and movie in-jokes and keep the hit rate fairly high, ohh and it’s not too long either. Probably not recommended for adults only (you’ll need a couple of kids as an excuse, or no shame like us), but when it hits the TV a worthwhile way to spend an hour or so on a Saturday afternoon.