Computer animation have come a long way over the last 10 years. Ever since Woody and Buzz blasted onto the big screens 2D cartoon fare has all but disappeared. The kids' films market is a bottomless gold mine and tempting children to kick and scream until their parents wearily agree to take them to see Fluffy Fluffy Bun Bun in the cinema has become akin to a blood sport for the major players.

The Pixar/Dreamworks battle has become infamous in Hollywood. Both studios set exceptionally high standards, not only for kiddy flicks, but for cinema in general, with both Shrek and The Incredibles emerging as huge box-office hits. Anything below the par of excellence is unduly noticed in an instant by children, adults and critics alike.

Long regarded as the least successful of the two, both monetarily and critically, DreamWorks's most recent offering is Madagascar, a zany animated comedy. The story is relatively simple. Marty the Zebra has grown tired of jailbird life and decides to escape after the idea is planted in his head by crazy army penguins. Finding their friend gone, the zoo animals, consisting of a motherly hippo, control freak lion and hypochondriac giraffe set about finding him and unintentionally end up in the wilds of Madagascar.

The story and laughs pick up speed from the moment the penguins take control of the ship, leaving the mammalian crew stranded. However, cliches and in-jokes run amok, as the Castaway tale takes shape and Marty begins to act and sound increasingly like Shrek's donkey in each scene. The Lemurs provide welcome chuckles, as Ali G voices the rave partying Lemur King, and the movie reaches some depth in its exploration of the lion's "turning."

The acting is great, the voices enthusiastic and engaging and the animation simply sumptuous, bursting with colour and vitality. The plot glides smoothly throughout and is fun to watch as the story unravels, in spite of its childish predictability.

But this movie is not a must-see by any means. There is no specific reason as to why it is not great. It just lacks that certain something that makes a special film special, as well as the quick-fire wit and panache that films like The Incredibles have in spades. There is a slight sense of deja vu throughout and it does lack the originality of its previous counterparts. On the other hand, it is not bad and kids will lap up the silly antics of the crazed animals, but for parents this will provide little more than occasional sniggers.

Failing to reach the dizzying standards of brilliance held by recent computer animated features is not something to be ashamed of, but in terms of DreamWorks versus Pixar there is still a lot of ground to be made up.