The Wild

Hollywood usually waits several years before a remaking a movie. But Disney barely waited several months before creating this unofficial remake (rip-off?) of Madagascar, DreamWorks’ 2005 flick. As in Madagascar, a variety of zoo animals, each with their own clichéd quirks, chase after one of their own through New York City’s concrete jungle to the African jungle. Then they can return home only after they face some frightening, and predictable, personal truths. Attempting to distinguish itself from its similar predecessor, The Wild painfully tries to include originality with unconvincing cloak-and-dagger chameleons, an embarrassing break-dancing battle, and a squirrel and a giraffe engaged in their own jungle fever. Kiefer Sutherland, Janeane Garofalo, William Shatner and James Belushi waste their talents with this unwild misadventure.