Island of Lemurs: Madagascar

Plot

The film takes place on Madagascar, and focuses on lemurs. The film also highlights Dr. Patricia C. Wright's efforts on her mission to help lemurs survive in the modern world. The film also focuses on the endangered levels of lemur species, who are losing their populations due to agricultural fires.

Release

The film was released on April 4, 2014. The film was shot with IMAX 3D cameras, released in IMAX and 3D formats. The film was also released with a G rating by the MPAA, and a U rating by the BBFC.

Home media

Island of Lemurs: Madagascar was released on Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD combo pack on March 31, 2015 by Warner Home Video.

Critical reception

The film has received generally positive reviews from critics. Based on 34 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, the film has received an overall rating of 79% and an average score of 6.5/10. The review aggregator, Metacritic, assigned the film a 66/100 score.

Justin Chang of Variety writes that all of the film's combined attributes such as score and cinematography "makes for a pleasant if fairly pedestrian viewing experience, one that more or less gets the job done in terms of balancing the requisite ooh-ahh moments with another unsurprising reminder of man’s capacity for selfishness and destruction." Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter writes that Freeman provided a "concise narration, delivered with avuncular warmth." Nanaimo Daily News praised the cinematography and informative nature of the film, stating, "Island of Lemurs is close to the perfect nature documentary."

A negative review came from Kevin McFarland of The A.V. Club, who graded the film with a C. He wrote that in contrast to Freeman, the narration by Wright was "stilted, overwritten and monotonous", and the film did not go into as much depth as Freeman's Academy Award-winner March of the Penguins, so was therefore "half a movie".

Box office

According to Box Office Mojo, the film grossed $188,307 on its opening weekend, in which it was released at 37 theaters. As of March 22, 2014, the film has grossed over $9 million.

Awards

Island of Lemurs was nominated for the Best Documentary and Best Animation/Family poster at the 15th Golden Trailer Awards, which were awarded respectively to Blackfish and Despicable Me 2.

Music

Mark Mothersbaugh scored the film. Chang of Variety wrote that Motherbaugh's score would " too often surges when silence would have been more effective."

Hanitrarivo Rasoanaivo, a Malagasy native, and her band Tarika sung a local version of American pop songs, featured in the film. "I Will Survive" and "Be My Baby" were among these songs. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the music "conveys the joy of observing the lemurs in action."