Penguins of Madagascar

Review By: John Delia

Cute, cuddly and comical Penguins of Madagascar puts on a good show for the kiddies and even us older folks. The story is quite silly, but that’s what makes this quartet of best buddies fun to watch. The soft CGI animation delivers a good look, especially the characters who are nice and squishy.  Did I say that? Well, anyway the film targets the right audience with tykes to teens loving all the humor that should even give dad and mom a few chuckles.  

The movie opens where we find Skipper (Tom McGrath), Kowalski (Chris Miller) and Rico (Conrad Vernon) walking with hundreds of penguins in Antarctica. Bored with their life they want to move on. Just then an egg from one of the penguins puts them on a trajectory to save it from being destroyed. When all is over the boys have a new friend, Private (Christopher Knights). It’s really a quick flashback to when it all started for the penguins and it fits nicely into the story. Flash forward and Private has grown up and now a full-fledged member of the pack.

Saving the world from one villain at a time, they run into Dave (John Malkovich) a/k/a the evil Dr. Octavius Brine, a jealous squid who wants revenge for the embarrassment he faced when the four penguins dominated the water animal exhibit at the New York Zoo. Out to destroy them and put himself back as the most liked water animal in the zoo, Dave sets up his evil plan. Along the way the penguins join forces with The North Wind, a covert group of agents lead by Classified (Benedict Cumberbatch). So begins an adventure filled with fun and laughter.

The colorful film has an excellent voice cast with returning actors that have kept them the kookiest of characters in all the Madagascar films. Madagascar series directors Eric Darnell and Simon J. Smith keep the funny frolicking film moving at a fast pace taking their characters from Antarctica to around the world and ending in New York where their popularity all began. They up their voice cast with several new characters that make the film top drawer. I especially like John Malkovich as the sinister Dr. Octavius. He’s right on the mark with the nonsensical villain who steals the show during many scenes.

The movie plays on several levels allowing the older folks to join in on the laughter. Dr. Octavius talks in movie star language putting the emphases on the syllables of their names in order to express meaning to his sentences. It gets really hilarious at times especially when he starts rattling them off when he gets defensive. Even some of the penguin dialogue and character expressions get a little adult oriented at times allowing for several guffaws for the over seventeen years old audience.

Penguins of Madagascar has been rated PG by the MPAA for mild action and some rude humor. The film plays equally as well for both males and females with the addition of Eva (Annet Mahendru) a member of North Wind. She’s an intelligence analyst for North Wind, but don’t let her smarts and beauty fool you, she’s as tough as her fellow agents. The immature age one to three year olds may experience a few bumps in the road during the more intense scenes, but should recover when the penguins start their wackiness again.

FINAL ANALYSIS: A very good kids show and an adult winner as well. (B+)