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THE WILD Comparisons to the fine Madagascar aren't necessary to point out the myriad shortcomings of The Wild, which manages to be abysmal on its own terms. Fast-paced is one thing -- Bugs Bunny and crew all but turned it into an art form -- but this ADD-affected movie seems to have been made by mentally stunted adults after they've popped a dozen uppers and downed two dozen cups of coffee. The CGI animation is impressively lifelike, though it begs the recurring question as to why we would want our animated movies to not look like animated movies. Everything else about this toxic toon is intolerable, especially the sidekicks who accompany Samson the lion (voiced by Kiefer Sutherland) as he leaves the comforts of the New York zoo to search for his wayward son in a faraway jungle. Nigel the koala (Eddie Izzard) rates a special mention, emerging as the most loathsome animated character since Martin Short's insufferable robot B.E.N. in Treasure Planet. *
OPENS FRIDAY, APRIL 28:
AKEELAH AND THE BEE: Keke Palmer, Laurence Fishburne.
HARD CANDY: Patrick Wilson, Ellen Page.
RV: Robin Williams, Kristin Chenoweth.
STICK IT: Jeff Bridges, Missy Peregrym.
UNITED 93: David Alan Basche, JJ Johnson.