Penguins of Madagascar

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: November 26, 2014

6.4	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 226 Ratings

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FilipeNetoNov 29, 2018

This film is the perfect example of a problem that has consumed animation films: when a film becomes popular, it is immediately consumed by the industry and turned into a dollar-making machine with a colossal dose of merchandising, TV series,This film is the perfect example of a problem that has consumed animation films: when a film becomes popular, it is immediately consumed by the industry and turned into a dollar-making machine with a colossal dose of merchandising, TV series, sequels and prequels appearing every moment. After the success of Madagascar, Dreamworks hastened to do so. When the fountain dried up, noting the popularity of the penguins, who were more than secondary characters initially, but to whom it was being given relevance, they decided to make a film where the protagonists are them. Of course it was a mistake. It was the same with Timon and Pumba from "Lion King", with the Minions from "Despicable Me" etc.

Okay, I agree Penguins were funny in that context in which they were born. But I do not think they have what it takes to be protagonists. After three "Madagascar", where their participation was growing, they were worn out and had nothing more to offer. When we look at the script of this movie, this is evident. There's nothing new, it's just a means to profit at the expense of the popularity of the four characters.

In addition to this problem, the film has the most idiotic script I've seen in many years. Simply poorly done, it has more holes than a fishing net. You see, penguins enter Fort Knox, the most sheltered place in the United States after the White House, to devour snacks they'd find in an ordinary convenience store, but the snack machine has a crazy octopus that wants revenge because people like penguins ... then the whole movie is centered on the quest for outlawed octopus, the struggle to curb his plans and an idiotic rivalry between the penguins and a kind of millionaire organization that protects animals (but the octopus is not an animal?) at risk and helpless ... Now you ask: how did the octopus know that the penguins would enter Fort Knox? How did he get in there in the first place? What is the origin of the mysterious substance that transforms penguins into monsters? Where does the "North Wind" money come from? I do not know what you think, but I kept thinking the writers should be drunk or drugged when they wrote this.

Technically, the film does not bring anything interesting either. I have seen CGI better and more realistic, the animations are not beautiful nor bring the brightness of other films, the colors seem a little faded and the soundtrack is quite weak.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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vikesh2206Dec 15, 2014

Sporadically amusing but otherwise hollow and over the top, the silly Penguins of Madagascar offers a derivative take on humour and thus, falls flat on its clichés.

4 of 6 users found this helpful42

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Pazzo7Nov 28, 2014

The new Dreamworks animated movie is a spin-off of the popular but not so good Madagascar film series and it’s their 3rd feature of this year following Mr. Peabody & Sherman and the sequel to How To Train Your Dragon.

The plot involves theThe new Dreamworks animated movie is a spin-off of the popular but not so good Madagascar film series and it’s their 3rd feature of this year following Mr. Peabody & Sherman and the sequel to How To Train Your Dragon.

The plot involves the 4 well-known cute and cuddly penguins Skipper, Kowalski, Rico, and Private going against our villain, a purple octopus named Dr. Octavius Brine who’s trying to collect all the penguins around the world and transform them from cute and cuddly to monstrous and disgusting. On their way they encounter an elite undercover inter-species task force called North Wind that the penguins will also have to deal with.

Now, this is a spy thriller and like all spy thrillers this one features a lot of gadgets and super-secret agents trying to stop a villain from conquering the world. Classic formula. Thus, when going into a movie like this you have to suspend your disbelief because you know that some of the gadgets or gizmos are capable of the implausible. However, this is not the case because the most inconceivable comes from the things that go down in the action scenes. It’s not ridiculous in a fun way. It’s ridiculous in a head-scratching and unpleasing way. You could dispute about the fact that is an animation and things like this shouldn’t be taken seriously but even for an animated movie it is unendurable. I was in with my 12 year old cousin and I thought she would like the film but I noticed that she facepalmed herself lots of times during its running. That’s how you know they went over the top.

The movie begins with our 4 fellas breaking into Fort Knox as a present for Private’s birthday. They arrive on a makeshift glider, they take down a few guards and put in an unlikely voice password (but hey, you never know) and boom they’re in like that but wait because the movie isn’t only taking our suspension of disbelief and is beating it over with a mace but it also makes us drop our jaw on the floor from how stupid it can be. So, after they break in arguably the most guarded place in the world with just a few moves,they’re not looking for the gold but for the chips vending machine that’s in the back of the gold room. I am not even kidding. That happened. Later they escape from an airplane that flies at an altitude of 8 km (if I don’t mistake) by opening the cargo door and breathing without worries as if they were on the ground. Below them another airplane is on the route and they jump and just smash through the steel fuselage and get inside, again like it’s something normal, and get to the cabin and take out the pilots and change course while the passengers in the back are just a bit scared because of some penguins breaching in. Just that. Something is wrong, isn’t it??? Yes, it is. After Skipper and his comrades smashed in there were no alarms going off, nothing signaling an uncontrolled decompression that would probably,most likely make the plane crash. Only a lot of screaming.

But this movie is not only characterized by ludicrous events but also by a clichéd and predictable plot and one-dimensional characters. The screenplay is written by John Aboud, Brandon Sawyer, Tom McGrath and Eric Darnell. There’s nothing interesting about these penguins and since the screenwriters didn’t have any new ideas for an original or at least working story they just put in some spy movie clichés that we all moviegoers know about and added in a dash of gags. Adding some smiles didn’t save its reputation because not even the smiles are good. They either last for too long or just aren’t funny. There was only one pun relating to the fiscal issue in France that actually made me laugh.

Though the screenplay wasn’t good I can’t say the same about the camerawork. Sometimes the camera follows graciously and smoothly the protagonists giving the movie a better flow and making the nonsensed and fast action easy to follow. The editing is top notch and the animation is beautiful presenting vivid and powerful colors.

These were the only positive aspects of this picture. Luckily, I had the opportunity it in 2D and not in 3D. I heard from different critics that the 3D was good and that’s proving once more that Dreamworks has a certain respect for the 3D but I wish they respected us moviegoers and kids as well by delivering movies that are good on a story level.

Honestly, this year was a pretty good year for movies and I thought this one was going to stump my bad feelings regarding it but it’s just another piece of gain from the studios and it’s more an exhausting ride than exhilarating one. Kids will have fun and I guess this film is going to make a crap load of money and it will spawn a few (5) sequels that I hope not, of course, but I fear will all be this bad. Adults will be able to enjoy it only whilst being drunk. Yep, get ready.… Expand

4 of 9 users found this helpful45

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hemhedgeDec 4, 2014

This movie has totally unoriginal jokes and silly humor. You actually feel like the script has been forced out of writers at gunpoint. I usually don't write reviews for movies, but this one was bad enough to compel me towards writing it.

3 of 8 users found this helpful35

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