Reptileenbu
Did you people see the same film I saw?
BoardChiri
Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay
Lidia Draper
Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.
Clifton Johnson
There's a joke per minute here: visual gags, verbal gags and - of course - cheese dibble gags. But there's not much logic or plot to go along with those gags. It's nothing but jokes, but what it needed was story.
MartinHafer
Back when Dreamworks came out with SHREK, the studio was truly the equal to Pixar. Yet, sadly, over the years, Dreamworks has continued to make CGI films of diminishing quality...with a few exceptions, such as their brilliant HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON. Otherwise, it's been a long succession of films where mediocrity seems just fine with the studio...with films like MONSTERS VERSUS ALIENS, MADAGASCAR, THE BEE MOVIE and KUNG FU PANDA...pleasant but nothing more. And, sadly, it's also become the studio of sequels...and this one is a sequel to a TV show to a sequel...which has "direct to DVD and Neflix" written all over it! If I sound not particularly impressed by much of their work it's because that pretty much sums it up.So what you have with THE PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR is mediocre CGI compared to the competition, characters aimed strictly to the kids and a plot that seems like it was written by some folks who were under the influence! It's watchable but nothing more.Sadly, the film really starts off well...and it got my hopes up that it would be a cute little film. I loved having Werner Herzog doing the voice of the nature documentarian since Herzog has made a ton of wonderful documentaries. And, this initial portion, though funny, had nothing to do with the rest of the film...nothing!As to the actual story, it's just bizarro and kind of stupid...and if you haven't seen the film and are reading this part of my review, you'll think I am making this up because it makes no sense and seems to very random. The penguins break into Ft. Knox to get to a snack machine. But the snack machine is a trap and there's an evil octopus inside who somehow knows that the penguins are coming...and he wants to trap them in his bizarro plan of revenge. Dave the Octopus apparently hates these penguins because they got more love and attention when they all lived at the zoo. So, he disguised himself as a human, became a top genetic scientist and now is bent on destruction!! And, it only gets weirder from here....with even more villains, a trip back to Madagascar in a packing crate, mermaid penguins and more...none of which make sense...especially for penguins. There's much more...with some plot involving world travel and some other animals...but I really stopped paying close attention by this point. Who writes this sort of nonsense?! And, more importantly, do they get PAID to do this?!?! So much of the film just seems completely random...like they took plot ideas out of a hat and strung them all together.I really think the other reviewers are way too kind to this film. It has a current rating about 6.0...and I have no idea why. Perhaps they are judging strictly by how much kids enjoy the film--and that is fair. But even for a kids film, I think you could easily do better. Even one of the lesser Dreamworks films like MONSTERS VERSUS ALIENS or MR. PEABODY AND SHERMAN are a lot better than this bizarro film. Plus for adults, this film is insufferably boring and senseless.FYI--When I watched this with my daughter, she fell asleep in the middle of it.
Michael O'Keefe
Skipper(Tom McGrath)and Kowalski(Chris Miller)urge Private(Christopher Knights)and Ric(Conrad Vernon)to go undercover. Those likable Madagascar penguins enlist into a covert organization, The North Wind, led by Special Agent Classified(Benedict Cumberbatch). The evil and ego-maniacal Dr. Octavius Brine(John Malkovich)is overly determined to ruin the world for everyone. Our undercover birds, a bit haphazard and inept, will do their best to prove to their boss that global espionage fits into their style.Very top-of-the-line animation, typical craziness and mild action with the obligatory crude humor passes as family comedy for all ages. Other actors lending voices include: Ken Jeong, Peter Stormare, Sean Charmatz, Annet Mahendru and Andy Richter.
phoenix 2
If you love the Madagascar movies and likes the penguins, you're gonna love this one. I personally think that it was way better than the Madagascar 2 and 3. It is funny and everything that you expect it to be for a family movie. I liked the ignorance of the penguins, that is hilarious, and they're smart and resourcefully, which is entertaining. Kudos also for not mentioning the Madagascar heroes too much and there for making this movie watchable for those who haven't watched the other movies. Of course there are the clichés with the rescuing and the villain and the heart breaking family\team values, but, fortunately, that doesn't ruin the movie, so 5 out of 10 for the penguins.
