Penguins of Madagascar

Voices of: Tom McGrath, Chris Miller, Christopher Knights, Conrad Vernon, John Malkovich, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ken Jeong, Annet Mahendru, Peter Stormare, Andy Richter, Danny Jacobs, Werner Herzog
Directed by: Eric Darnell, Simon J. Smith
Rating: PG
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
2014

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: The penguins face their most formidable challenge in a scientist (John Malkovich) with a nefarious plot against the penguins of the world.

Review:

Tim: I suppose I understand the thinking behind Penguins of Madagascar- the Penguins have always been the best part of the Madagascar movies and there's always the sense that they didn't get enough screen time. So, why not spin them off into their own movie? The logic makes sense, but the execution is lacking. Now that they've been given the spotlight, Skipper, Kowalski, Private, and Rico seem less funny and less entertaining than they ever have. This is an inferior film that takes the best part of a franchise and makes it worse.

I chalk up so much of this film's failure to the script. Quite frankly, it's a mess. The penguins we know are up against an evil octopus who wants to uglify the penguins of the world out of some misplaced jealousy. As if this wasn't weak enough, there's also the introduction of The North Wind, an elite group of other animals who are also after the octopus, but also compete with the penguins. Truly, the story makes no sense and isn't particularly entertaining. There's a big action bent, but none of the sequences are all that spectacular. You might have understood the bad plot if it served the purpose of creating hilarious moments for our protagonists, but that doesn't happen. There are a few bright spots here and there that elicit a laugh, but the majority of the movie isn't very entertaining.

I suppose the computer animation is decent. The colors are vivid. This is really something that has become table stakes in recent years. With so many gorgeously constructed animated movies, you really have to do something special to attract attention. That doesn't happen here. The movie looks fine, but there's not a single exceptional aspect to how the film looks.

The voice cast was fine. The four actors voicing the penguins return and they do a good job- each actor's voice is distinct, which helps- especially because the penguins themselves don't look all that different. John Malkovich was fine as Dave, but it was a really underdeveloped character. I also liked hearing Benedict Cumberbatch, but unfortunately, he was saddled with a boring character as well. The rest of the voice cast worked. I like hearing Ken Jeong, but there wasn't anyone really noteworthy.

When I've criticized DreamWorks animated films before (and lord knows I've done that), my biggest complaints have been how shallow the movies are. I've also been more critical of Pixar than the average reviewer, but almost all of their movies feel like there's substance to them- even the ones that don't work as a whole. It feels like there is real emotion and an exploration of deeper topics that helps elevate the material. DreamWorks has made far too many of these animated movies that feel like the sugariest of candies- you get a little rush of watching the blur of color and action, but there's almost no nutritional value. That's the problem with Penguins of Madagascar. There's enough happening here to hold most kids' attention (although even my 3 year-old was pretty bored and underwhelmed with the movie. He didn't even want to finish it), but there's nothing particularly entertaining or memorable about anything we see. Nothing on the screen actually means anything. The whole movie takes on this pointless feel.

I haven't particularly enjoyed the Madagascar movies, but I've certainly highlighted the penguins as one of the big strengths. Based on that, I should have enjoyed this movie far more than I did. Unfortunately, this is another DreamWorks failure. They've certainly had some hits, but it's hard to find much here to like

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Madagascar, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa