I was pretty excited going walking into the theater to watch Penguins of Madagascar. While I didn’t particularly care for Madagascar, I loved the penguins. The trailers looked funny, there was a good voice cast, & really what could be better than our favorite penguins as spies?
Sadly, I walked out of the theater letdown.
The penguins are awesome on their mission, but the villain? While there are some funny moments he provides (like when he shows his tech-unsavviness) he’s just weird. An octopus passing as a super stretchy human geneticist? It fits Malchovich, but I think young children may be disturbed.
All the puns on celebrity names? Cute for a time or two, but fast became tiresome.
Creating a horde of mutant monster penguins? Totally scary for children, and not funny.
If the movie had been more comedic & actually featured the penguins as spies in the vein of Get Smart or Johnny English we could’ve had a winning movie for children and adults. Instead, the movie relied too heavily on slapstick, groan-worthy puns, & weirdness for its humor. Disappointing.
Animation: 4 stars
Voice cast: 4 stars
Plot: 2 stars
Average: 3 stars
