Movie & TV Series Reviews
Penguins of Madagascar
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Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Kids & Family
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Starring Actors: Tom McGrath, Chris Miller
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Directors: Eric Darnell, Simon J. Smith
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Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
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Studio: Fox
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(2014)
Taking place right after the events of Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2012,), the Penguins embark on their own spy thriller now, in a action packed mission to stop the evil Dave The Octopus (John Malkovich,), from turning all of the world's zoo penguins into monsters with is new ray machine. The plot, I know, from a realistic standpoint, IS UTTERLY ridiculous, but, it is a Madagascar movie. Things are gonna get a little weird here and there. But it's more of a funny weird.
Now onto the actual star of this movie: the Penguins themselves. THESE GUYS ARE FLAWLESSLY, SO DAMN COOL! Everything these 4 penguins do in this movie is both awesome, and hilarious! Let's face it, folks, ever since these guys graced the screens back in 2005, when the first Madagascar film came out, we fell in love with all 4 of the little penguins, and were dying to see a spinoff movie of them. THEY WERE THE BEST PART of the other Madagascar movies, which is why they deserve their own movie! And, BY GOD, does it pay off here! Tom McGrath(who returns as his role from Madagascar, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, and Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted,), as Skipper, the leader of the penguins, is hilarious! He has always been the charismatic, brave, and prepared member of the Penguins. And, he is so cool. All his plans work so well, and are so funny to see. The fact that he is always ready with some kind of plan is a joke to laugh at continuously on its own. Chris Miller(who also returns as his role from Madagascar, Madagascar1,2, and 3,), as Kowalski, the brains of the penguins, is also VERY cool. He has always been shown as the quiet, sleuth, smart member of the team. Each analysis he makes is very funny, and his lines are very hilarious when he talks to the other penguins. His quick movements and fast, sporadic behavior also add to the humor. Conrad Vernon(who also returns as his role from Madagascar 1, 2, and 3,), as Rico, the loose cannon of the penguins. Rico is probably the FUNNIEST penguin of the team. The fact that he has almost every kind f object stored in his body is the funniest part. This penguin can vomit up anything and use it as a weapon. And his voice is the funniest part of all! Just heavy grunts and caveman-type shouts! XD Christopher Knights(who also returns as his role from Madagascar 1,2, and 3,), as Private, the rookie of the penguins, is definitely the cutest penguin of the group. And the movie makes sure you know that. He is though. You just want to give the little guy a hug. And his help, battle plans, and combat skills are also pretty underestimated too. One thing these movies get right with these characters is that you love ash penguin, due to their distinct personality, and when they all work together, they are more deadly than any military team put together. Heck, these guys could probably knock the whole team unconscious! All 4 of the are the most memorable characters of this series, because of their combined humor, funny, but yet, effective combat skills and fighting techniques, and just cause of the overall awesome atmosphere these guys bring to the movie.
Too bad the same can't be said for the team of "Expendables" animals that come to help the penguins sometimes in this movie: North Wind. They are an elite group of animals formed together to free any animals in danger. But, honestly, the whole team is as memorable as a Van Halen(w/Sammy Hagar,), song. I mean it. These guys are VERY forgettable. Why? Because they all have cliched, poorly written traits, with little to personality outside of what action movie cliche they represent. THE ONLY MEMORABLE character on this cliche team is Benedict Cumberbatch(Star Trek Into Darkness,), as Classified, a gray wolf and team leader of North Wind. He is pretty cool, and his voice is pretty cool too. His design is pretty awesome too, but you start to hate this character from the moment he steps on screen because of his ANNOYING, POMPOUS, CLICHE, ARROGANT, OVERLY-DRAMATIC EGO. You know why you love Tony Stark so much? Because he is awesome yeah, but his ego is for laughs in the Iron Man films, and is likable. In this movie, Classified is the most egotistical jerk in the universe. He is always trying to out-cool the Penguins(Skipper in particular,), but, luckily, you could care less, and just hate everything he does! And you really want to get to like this character, but, really, you just end up hating him till he throws his go away near the end of the movie. The other members of the team are VERY Forgettable, because they don't have a personality or do anything cool. They're just cliches of cliches. Ken Jeong(Mr. Chow from the Hangover trilogy,), as Short Fuse, an explosive and demolitions expert harp seal and member of the North Wind, is well...........he's cute. See? Forgettable. He doesn't do anything interesting!
Annet Mahendru as Eva, a snowy owl and the North Wind's intelligence analyst, is well, also dumb. She does nothing except turn her stupid little head around in slow motion, with her big, annoying, stupid, long eyelashes. So stupid. Peter Stormare as Corporal, a Norwegian polar bear and member of the North Wind, is well, also dumb. This guy, first off, has some kind of awkward anxiety/cuteness bipolar disorder. It's very difficult to describe. He just spontaneously gets angry, starts chewing on things, then goes into detail about his creepy penguin fetish. He was probably the most annoying character in this movie for me. Seriously, these guys are useless. Everytime these guys came on screen, I just felt immediately annoyed, and bored. Plus, their whole organization, and backstory, or each character's bios IS NEVER ADDRESSED. The people who made this movie should have just put these guys in THEIR own movie too, because pushing and shoving them into this movie doesn't work. They didn't make much of an impression on me when I first saw them in the trailer for this movie, just like I thought, they didn't make much of an impression on me when I saw them in the movie! They just slow the movie down, and add little to no change, except for all of them being pompous, narcissistic jerks. Luckily, the Penguins DO make fun of them every time they show up, PLENTY, and the insults get both funnier ,and meaner every time.
John Malkovich as Dave The Octopus, the movie's villain, is very cool. I won't spoil his reason for commitng his crime in the movie, but it is very funny. And, Malkovich brings is usual charisma and loud voice, and acting power to his villain roles, and really shines as this character. Also, alot of his menacing scenes are actually VERY hilarious! The only problem with this character is his stupid, annoying human disguise costume he uses sometimes in this movie.
The music by Lorne Balfe (the composer for Assassins Creed: Revelations,), is, well, good and fitting. It's a good movie soundtrack, with some good suspenseful, and nice spy movie music for this movie's score. But, the best song in this movie is the song "Celebrate" by Pitbull. Yeah, I actually hate Pitbull, and think 99.9% of his songs sound the same, and is just noise, but by God, this one song that is played at the end of the movie is so cool. so fun to listen to, and some damn catchy. I've heard it 5 times now, and it's still such a cool song.
The directing, by Simon J. Smith & Eric Darnell(who have worked together on Bee Movie, and the other 3 Madagascar movies,), is FANTASTIC! While not as flawless as I hoped it would be, this movie gets MOST of itself correct. Yeah, North Wind is freakin' useless, but the Penguins are what this movie is about, and luckily, this movie keeps the focus ALWAYS ON THEM! The action-adventure-spy-thriller genre this movie was trying to go with fits perfectly with the Penguins. As I said above, one thing these movies get right with these characters is that you love ash penguin, due to their distinct personality, and when they all work together, they are more deadly than any military team put together. Heck, these guys could probably knock the whole team unconscious! All 4 of the are the most memorable characters of this series, because of their combined humor, funny, but yet, effective combat skills and fighting techniques, and just cause of the overall awesome atmosphere these guys bring to the movie. And, the humor. OH MY GOD! This was one of the funniest, and best animated movies I have seen in a long time. Every joke iso hilarious and well-written. I was rolling on the floor for most of this movie, just from the funny jokes and anything the Penguins do. Yeah, THAT funny. The animation, by the way, is FLAWLESS! So many dark, textured, and lively environments, but also well-designed characters, and brilliantly, fluidly animated movements and motions. The Penguins themselves look stunningly animated, and each and every detail, right down to the last feather is done so well. I went into this movie, with 9 years of VERY HIGH expectations with me, and I left with EVEN higher praise ,and undeniable enjoyment, after seeing this movie! DEFINITELY GO SEE THIS MOVIE WHEN YOU GET THE CHANCE! IT IS AN ABSOLUTE MUSTTTTTTTTTTTTT SEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is one of the funniest, and DEFINITELY coolest movies of all time! And, the best part about this movie being so good, is that you can watch it over and over again, many times, and each watching, you will still love each and every minute of it, laughing all the way! And for that, that is why I'm giving this movie a 9.9 out of 10.
RATING
9.9 / 10
