Plot
An adolescent lion is accidentally shipped from the New York Zoo to Africa. Now running free, his zoo pals must put aside their differences to help bring him back.
Release Year: 2006
Rating: 5.3/10 (11,141 voted)
Critic's Score: 47/100
Director:
Steve 'Spaz' Williams
Stars: Kiefer Sutherland, James Belushi, Eddie Izzard
Storyline Ryan is a lion who wants to go to the wild, where his dad (Samson) once lived. When he gets himself shipped to Africa, his zoo friends (and Samson) work together to bring him back. When they get to Africa, however, the animals find themselves in a pile of danger. They have to fight an evil wildebeest called Kazar. But Kazar's safe compared to the other danger on the island- a volcano that's on the edge of eruption. Can the animals find Ryan and get out of Africa before the volcano erupts in so little time?
Writers: Ed Decter, John J. Strauss
Cast: Kiefer Sutherland
-
Samson
(voice)
James Belushi
-
Benny
(voice)
(as Jim Belushi)
Eddie Izzard
-
Nigel
(voice)
Janeane Garofalo
-
Bridget
(voice)
William Shatner
-
Kazar
(voice)
Richard Kind
-
Larry
(voice)
Greg Cipes
-
Ryan
(voice)
Colin Hay
-
Fergus Flamingo
(voice)
Miles Marsico
-
Duke
(voice)
Jack De Sena
-
Eze
(voice)
Don Cherry
-
Penguin MC
(voice)
Christian Argueta
-
Hamir
(voice)
David Cowgill
-
Hamir
(voice)
Lenny Venito
-
Stan
(voice)
Joseph Siravo
-
Carmine
(voice)
Opening Weekend: $9,684,809
(USA)
(16 April 2006)
(2854 Screens)
Gross: $37,371,315
(USA)
(13 August 2006)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Philippines:
|
USA:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
The ship in the film is named the "Hannah W" after director Steve 'Spaz' Williams' daughter, Hannah.
Goofs:
Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers):
Benny the squirrel blames Nigel for throwing him off the garbage truck, but actually it was Bridget who knocked him off with her tail.
Quotes:
[first lines]
Samson:
So there I was, face to face with the biggest, meanest leopard on the savannah and... Ryan:
You roared so loud, his spots flew off. Dad I've heard that story a billion times.
User Review
Its really all about Nigel
Rating: 6/10
Similar to Madagascar but not the same this is the story of a zoo lion
and his friends who race off to save the lion's son who has been
shipped back to the wild. The movie is the race to find the son before
he gets to the wild and what happens once they get there.
I have to start by saying the voice cast is top notch here. Everyone
does an excellent job. However I must single out Jim Belushi and Eddie
Izzard as turning in classic animated performances. Belushi plays a
street smart squirrel who is in love with a giraffe and he is a ball of
fun. Its clear why he is the best friend of Keifer Sutherland's lion.
He is a joy to behold.
Even better is Eddie Izzard as Nigel, a koala who is totally crazed.
Izzard is in constant motion and is constantly chattering about
everyone and everything and he effectively turns a movie about a lion
and his cub into a movie about a deluded koala with a tenuous grasp on
reality. Izzard's Nigel will probably go down in history as one of the
great cartoon characters of all time.
This is a movie with fantastic animation. It all looks great. The
director and some of his crew are from the effects team that made
Terminator 2 and other big budget special effects movie look so great.
The problem with this movie is that it was made by guys who until this
film made their living making soulless special effects for soulless
action films. The net effect is a soulless film. There is no pacing,
there is little sense of danger. Worse the characters inhabit a world
that isn't real. In this world, especially in the New York scenes, no
one exists except the characters. They drive all through the city and
encounter no one. There are no other cars on the street. To be frank
there is no sign of life anywhere. Its terrible. It kills the film. Its
sad but as alive the actors are their animated characters, while
looking good, come across as dead constructs.
Still the movie is worth seeing. Eddie Izzard, with an assist by Jim
Belushi make it worth seeing. Clearly abandoned by Disney in theaters,
you should make a run by this on home video or cable, where its less
than the sum of its parts construction will be less annoying.
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