Penguins of Madagascar (Film Review)

Nov 27, 2014
The penguins are back! (literally) And after three Madagascar movies, they got themselves a stand-alone movie showcasing their espionage-minded antics and well.. eating a lot of Cheezy Dibbles. This troop of secret spies, consists of Skipper, Kowalski, Private and Rico, are definitely the scene-stealers in the Madagascar franchise but does it work in a 2-hour movie, or best served as small doses?
Super spy teams aren't born...they're hatched. Discover the secrets of the greatest and most hilarious covert birds in the global espionage biz: Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private. These elitists of the elite are joining forces with a chic undercover organization, The North Wind. Led by handsome and husky Agent Classified (we could tell you his name, but then...you know). Together, they must stop the villainous Dr. Octavius Brine, from destroying the world as we know it.                                                              
'Penguins of Madagascar' definitely has it's laugh-out loud moments, specifically in the film's opening -- Wherein the Penguins' origin story is told, only to find out being filmed by a crew for a Penguin documentary (with matching Werner Herzog voice-over). It's this kind of humor that the film should've touched more, the film decided to be meta with it's main characters: cute.... and stupid.
This movie is obviously targeted for a specific type of audience, kids will definitely love the penguin shenanigans, and the adults can have their celebrity name-puns ("Nicholas, cage them!") inserted in the movie.

I had quite my fair share of laughter and tiredness watching through this film. The movie became too much fun in it's first and second act, but it deflates towards it's finale. Like a balloon, it slowly sucks in the enjoyment the viewers had earlier and replace with a ridiculous pay-off as if the writers ran out of ideas.
The voice talents behind this film looks amazing. Benedict Cumberbatch is the most noticeable star in the bunch as he provides his deep, inviting voice to the screen. His take on the Siberian Husky aptly named "Classified" is nothing fancy, but it's delightful to see him do something different. John Malkovich is also a surprising addition to the cast, though his character (Dr. Octavius Brine) is just annoying.

While I really enjoyed the first two Madagascar movies (I kept forgetting the third one was released.), in the end Penguins of Madagascar felt flat. And it lost it's charm by being ridiculous. But I wouldn't mind spending another adventure with these guys anyways.

The geek rates it 6/10. 


Penguins of Madagascar” is now showing in cinemas from 20th Century Fox nationwide to be distributed by Warner Bros.


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