SEND IN THE CLOWNS (MADAGASCAR 3)

As the year draws to a close, it'll soon be time to reflect on 2012's cinematic fare.

That exercise often includes family movies - mostly animated - which help to bolster box officers returns in multiplexes up and down the country.

With the new 'Tinkerbell' sequel hitting the screens and 'Rise of the Guardians' going strong, I've decided to draw some of my own conclusions about this year's feature length animated films.

It's been an odd year. Disney-Pixar's big release was 'Brave' and, while it was full of Highland charm and was an enjoyable watch, it failed to reach the high standards of recent hits like 'Up', 'The Princess and the Frog', 'Toy Story 3' and 'Tangled'.

'Ice Age 4: Continental Drift' turned up on our screens during the summer and turned out to be the weakest link in a very irritating, yet profitable franchise.

'Top Cat' surfaced in a confused Mexican revival of the Hanna Barbera classic. But it tried desperately and failed miserably to bring the cartoon's Bilkoesque humour into a modern day setting.

Halloween also brought a rash of creepy animated films from the inventive 'Paranorman' (one for slightly older and less easily spooked kids) to Tim Burton's 'Frankenweenie'.

However, the low point of the season was undoubtedly 'Hotel Transylvania' which proved critic proof despite a terrible plot and a lacklustre cast.

By way of contrast, earlier this year 'A Monster In Paris' showed how a strong story with a quirky sense of humour, strong musical numbers and a spirited cast could delight children and their parents.

And so that leaves us with 'Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted' which is now coming to an end of a successful run in our local cinemas.

I've never been a big fan of this Dreamworks series about the adventures of a pampered lion, zebra, hippo and giraffe forced out of their beloved zoo in New York's Central Park only to wind up in Africa.

In the first two films, Ben Stiller's vain Alex the Lion, Chris Rock's hyper Marty the Zebra, Jada Pinkett Smith's sassy hippo Gloria and David Schwimmer's neurotic giraffe Melman have been like fish out of water.

They are ill equipped to wrestle with the demands of the African plains and they have been determined to find their way back to the place they are most comfortable in - New York.

While they have plotted their return to the Big Apple, they have had to contend with Sacha Baron Cohen's demented and vainglorious lemur, King Julien, his sidekick Maurice, a troupe of mercenary penguins and monkeys as well as occasional appearances from a handbag wielding, angry New York Jewish granny who beats Alex up when confronted by him.

Like the 'Ice Age' franchise, the humour has tended to be loud, brash and slapstick, with the characters often grating adult audiences with their wiseass comments.

However, for 'Madagascar 3', Dreamworks turned to the quirky independent director Noah Baumbach who is best known for 'The Squid and The Whale' and also for his smart screenplay for Wes Anderson's inventive motion stop animated comedy, 'The Fantastic Mr Fox'.

This gamble of pairing him with fellow screenwriter Eric Darnell, who co-directs the film, has paid off with the best film in the franchise and one of the most enjoyable family movies this year.

Picking up from where the second feature left off, our four heroes are still in Africa dreaming of a return to the Big Apple and decide once again to board the rickety plane made by monkeys from previous films in to attempt an to get back to New York.

They wind up in Monte Carlo instead where the penguins and the monkeys initially hit the casino to win a fortune at the roulette table by deceitful means, disguised as the King of Versailles.

A bid by Alex, Marty, Gloria and Melman to get the penguins to fly them back to New York through a 'Mission Impossible' style drop from the ceiling ends in disaster and results in the casino calling in Frances McDormand's ruthless animal control officer, Chantal Dubois and her Keystone Cops team of officers.

It soon becomes clear Officer Dubois is a collector of animal heads and has her sights set on Alex. There's a spectacular car chase through Monaco and the gang manages to give her the slip by boarding a travelling circus train.

There they encounter a group of jaded European circus animals including Bryan Cranston's gruff damaged Russian tiger Vitaly, Jessica Chastain's sleek jaguar Jia who Alex falls for and Martin Short's emotional Italian sea lion Stefano.

The circus troupe is tired, performing to dwindling audiences and has lost its passion but they are given new hope when Alex and the gang purchase the circus with the intent of staging a successful European tour to pave the way for a North American tour.

The gang travel to Rome's Colosseum to perform (this allows King Julien and his new love interest, a tricycle riding bear in a tutu called Sonya to have an improbable encounter with the Pope) but have to again avoid the attentions of the ruthless Officer Dubois.

Their first performance in Rome goes badly and the pressure is on as they head to London where they must impress a promoter to land Alex, Gloria, Melman and Marty's much coveted tour of North American.

Thanks to Baumbach and Darnell, 'Madagascar 3' has a tight plot and there is a real sense that the cast are in full flow - thanks to the quality of the script.

But what really elevates Darnell, Tom McGrath and Conrad Vernon's film is the high quality of the animation and, in particular, a remarkably acrobatic, multi-coloured climactic circus sequence featuring Katy Perry's hit song 'Firework'.

If this is the final act in the franchise, it literally goes out on a high.

'Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted' can only be caught this week at the Strand Cinema in Belfast.

(This review originally appeared on the EamonnMallie.com website in December 2012)