The continuing adventure of New York Zoo runaway animals voiced by a bunch of comedians continue in the third instalment of the Madagascar series. Having gone from the Big Apple to Madagascar to Africa, the animals end up in Monte Carlo, getting chased by a crazed big game hunter masquerading as an animal control department specialist (and voiced by Frances McDormand playing a crossbreed between Cruella de Vil, Edith Piaf and a bloodhound), and joining teaming up with the denizens of an ailing circus.

That's a lot of ground to cover but despite having three directors helming the project, the film moves so briskly along from one caper and gag to another. It's also the shortest entry of the franchise. The writing has improved by leaps and bounds since the series opener, which basically let a bunch of comedians ad lib their way into an indifferent mess.

This time round, there's a concerted effort at sophisticated comedy writing that would be appreciated by the not-so-young-anymore kids who have grown up with the series. The comedy ranges from a homage to Hong Kong action film car chases to Jackie Chan action scenes to parodying romcom conventions. Yet the highlight is an orgiastic and very surreal Cirque du Soleil sequence that pushes the artistry and technical feat of 3D animation further than the lazy gimmick where every other object and animal body part is shoved out of the screen.

Despite the oh-so-average storytelling quality and the forced humour in the original Madagascar, the animated comedy series appears to be a rare franchise that actually improves with every instalment – with the current third stands heads and shoulders above its predecessors.