Penguins Of Madagascar (2014)
TOMATOMETER
Critics Consensus: Penguins of Madagascar is fast and brightly colored enough to entertain small children, but too frantically silly to offer real filmgoing fun for the whole family.
Critics Consensus: Penguins of Madagascar is fast and brightly colored enough to entertain small children, but too frantically silly to offer real filmgoing fun for the whole family.
Trailer
Movie Info
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), voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch. Together, they must stop the villainous Dr. Octavius Brine, voiced by John Malkovich, from … More
- Rating:
- PG (for mild action and some rude humor)
- Genre:
- Animation
- Directed By:
- Simon Smith , Simon J. Smith
- Written By:
- Alan Schoolcraft , Michael Colton , Brandon Sawyer , Brent Simons , John Aboud
- In Theaters:
- Nov 26, 2014 Wide
- Box Office:
- $79.9M
- Runtime:
Related News & Features
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Video: The Adventurous Cast of Penguins of Madagascar
– Rotten Tomatoes
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LoginCritic Reviews for Penguins Of Madagascar
All Critics (96) | Top Critics (32) | Fresh (69) | Rotten (27)
Frantic and silly.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20150114133342im_/http://content6.flixster.com/critic/24/2440_tmb.gif)
These penguins really are cute, the animation is consistently appealing, and the movie is obviously bound for megamoolah at the box office.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20150114133342im_/http://content7.flixster.com/critic/17/1793_tmb.jpg)
Thanksgiving is a time for family and for shirking work, and out of respect for both traditions-and in recognition that I am surely not in the movie's demographic sweet spot-I'm handing the heavy lifting over to my kids, Tom (11) and Alexandra (9).
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20150114133342im_/http://content9.flixster.com/critic/23/2315_tmb.gif)
"Penguins of Madagascar" is a passible, inoffensive addition to DreamWorks Animation's canon, even if there's a faint whiff of a North Wind spin-off sullying the contained story.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20150114133342im_/http://d3biamo577v4eu.cloudfront.net/static/images/redesign/user.none.tmb.jpg)
Directors Eric Darnell and Simon J. Smith keep up a headlong pace -- if one joke or sight gag misfires, there'll be another one soon.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20150114133342im_/http://d3biamo577v4eu.cloudfront.net/static/images/redesign/user.none.tmb.jpg)
Leaving the cute to the bigger kids on the block, with this movie, Dreamworks is opting for pure crazy. And sure enough, the strategy, this time anyway, has paid off in the most unnatural dividend imaginable: darned if these penguins don't fly.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20150114133342im_/http://content9.flixster.com/critic/16/1627_tmb.gif)
Penguins of Madagascar is so verbally dexterous - and the animation by contrast little more than bright and familiar - that this could well be an adult spoof hiding out in a flick supposedly made for primary school students.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20150114133342im_/http://d3biamo577v4eu.cloudfront.net/static/images/redesign/user.none.tmb.jpg)
Very young children will find it hard to resist if they haven't seen too much of the Penguins posse until now.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20150114133342im_/http://d3biamo577v4eu.cloudfront.net/static/images/redesign/user.none.tmb.jpg)
The jokes are never-ending and multilayered, calculated so that adults do not get bored -- which is important, because they buy the tickets. It's all bolted together with precision and good humour, although not much whimsy.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20150114133342im_/http://d3biamo577v4eu.cloudfront.net/static/images/redesign/user.none.tmb.jpg)
Children will probably enjoy them and the animation is of a high standard. More wit and less frenetic action might have given the film more appeal to parents.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20150114133342im_/http://content7.flixster.com/critic/15/1513_tmb.gif)
Continues the Madagascar franchise trend of being pleasantly average.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20150114133342im_/http://d3biamo577v4eu.cloudfront.net/static/images/redesign/user.none.tmb.jpg)
Kids are easier to please and will probably lap it up. That said, it lacks many of the endearing characters that have made this franchise so likable.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20150114133342im_/http://content8.flixster.com/critic/22/2258_tmb.jpg)
The target demographic seems to be children with short-attention spans, those who will be thrilled with the plentiful action sequences and slapstick animal antics, intended to mask a script that emphasizes low-brow mayhem over narrative coherence.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20150114133342im_/http://d3biamo577v4eu.cloudfront.net/static/images/redesign/user.none.tmb.jpg)
The locations - including Fort Knox, Venice and Shanghai - evoke James Bond movies, while the byplay between the Penguins and The North Wind calls to mind a host of action-movie conventions.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20150114133342im_/http://content8.flixster.com/critic/15/1598_tmb.gif)
In Eric Darnell and Simon J. Smith's Penguins of Madagascar, irreverence is something of an understatement.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20150114133342im_/http://d3biamo577v4eu.cloudfront.net/static/images/redesign/user.none.tmb.jpg)
Not that much artistry, not that memorable, and no one will confuse them with the best of Pixar or even Disney. But they're just fine.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20150114133342im_/http://content9.flixster.com/critic/23/2355_tmb.jpg)
Penguins play charades, dress in lederhosen, dance Irish style & wear mermaid suits in this fast moving, high energy, witty & inventive 3d animation in themes that reinforce the importance of family
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20150114133342im_/http://content8.flixster.com/critic/15/1502_tmb.gif)
This team is a well-oiled machine, operating like an elite band of intrepid super-spies, a tiny, tuxedoed combination of James Bond, Ethan Hunt and Indiana Jones - but funnier.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20150114133342im_/http://content9.flixster.com/critic/24/2491_tmb.gif)
Will probably divert kids with ease, given its manic exertion and pace...[but] we find out the hard way that these waddlers are better in small doses.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20150114133342im_/http://content8.flixster.com/critic/17/1778_tmb.gif)
The four penguins come waddling at you furiously in this spin-off from the popular "Madagascar" franchise.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20150114133342im_/http://content8.flixster.com/critic/17/1706_tmb.jpg)
The gag rate really is something to behold, ensuring this has more in common with old Looney Tunes cartoons or the screwball sensibility of Tina Fey's sitcom 30 Rock than its Pixar-chasing forebears.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20150114133342im_/http://d3biamo577v4eu.cloudfront.net/static/images/redesign/user.none.tmb.jpg)
Barely bothering to make sense, this is fast and furious but also flightless.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20150114133342im_/http://d3biamo577v4eu.cloudfront.net/static/images/redesign/user.none.tmb.jpg)
Like Benedict Cumberbatch's unique pronunciation of the word "penguin", the result remains oddly entertaining.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20150114133342im_/http://d3biamo577v4eu.cloudfront.net/static/images/redesign/user.none.tmb.jpg)
The animation is good enough but never remarkable. The story is satisfactory, if short on imagination. But the jokes are magnificent throughout.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20150114133342im_/http://content7.flixster.com/critic/23/2369_tmb.jpg)
Entertaining Madagascar spin-off mixes peril and humor.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20150114133342im_/http://d3biamo577v4eu.cloudfront.net/static/images/redesign/user.none.tmb.jpg)
Gloriously bonkers. Like, Looney Tunes levels of cartoon madness. You will laugh your homo sapien head off.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20150114133342im_/http://content6.flixster.com/critic/15/1580_tmb.gif)
Audience Reviews for Penguins Of Madagascar
Beginning before the events of "Madagascar," we quickly receive the backstory of the Penguins before swinging into full gear with the Penguins we know and love. Picking up right after the events of "Madagascar 3: Europes Most Wanted," the focus is the Penguins while the old cast of animals is pushed aside. I must say, that even with a stale plot, I haven't laughed that much at the movies in a very long time. From clever celebrity word play to hilarious slapstick humour, "The Penguins of Madagascar" is a blast that is almost better than the original trilogy of films. I also have a strong liking for Penguins so maybe that's just me. With clever and funny writing and some very fun action scenes, "The Penguins of Madagascar" (though without it's flaws and stale plot) is great fun!
MoreSuper Reviewer
Super Reviewer
Full review at: http://bradwrightreviews.blogspot.com/?m=1
Penguins of Madagascar is no doubt a movie made for the kids. It mixes a lot silly jokes with colorful and adorable talking animated animals, mostly four small penguins. The story follows the penguins from the Madagascar franchise, including Skipper, Kowalski, Rico, and Private. After being caught in a revenge scheme by the evil octopus Dave (voiced by John Malkovich), the penguins are forced to join forces with an elite team of animal secret agents, led by a gray wolf named Classified (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch). Does the story sound simple? Good, because that's basically the gist of it. Don't get me wrong, I didn't go into this expecting a Pixar film or anything but this film was almost a bit too simple for me. DreamWorks Animation has created some brilliant films (i.e. both How to Train Your Dragon's, Shrek) and some that are just way too ridiculous for their own good (i.e. Shark Tale, Turbo). This one hit me right down the middle, since while the humor and animation were a lot of fun it just didn't have the same edge the Madagascar films had. It also hit so many familiar cords that the story almost became unbearably familiar, even where I saw kids in the theater getting bored. The penguins still prove to have great chemistry together, but perhaps making an entire film about them loses the magic a bit.
Super Reviewer
Lean, loud, and laugh-filled, this intentionally silly flightless water fowl-up fires at a fast, funny, and unfuzzy clip. In taking these Madagascar fan favorite supporting players and giving them a solo adventure, DreamWorks Animation gambles big with a popular cash cow franchise. And wins. Smartly forsaking sentimental syrupiness for wiseacre comedy team, antics, this movie moves at a breakneck pace that keeps it from getting bogged down in a cartoon-killer called seriousness. Most flicks of this ilk wear their hearts on their sleeves, teaching the importance of family, friends, and working together. Oh, Penguins doles out these One-to-Grow-Ons by proxy but never affects a professorial lecturing tone. Mostly, it just serves to zing and zip gags and one-liners at the audience. Granted, not all of the jokes hit a bullseye but this spin-off surges ahead at such an accelerated pace that you don't have time to notice.
In this PG-rated animated spin-off of Madagascar, Skipper (McGrath), Kowalski (Miller), Rico (Conrad Vernon) and Private (Christopher Knights) join forces with undercover organization The North Wind to stop a villainous doctor from destroying the world.
From writing to celebrity voices, DreamWorks Animation always assembles an impressive roster of talent and harmless madcap vehicle is no exception. This flick boasts the A-List pipes of Benedict Cumberbatch (BBC's Sherlock), John Malkovich (RED 2), Ken Jeong (The Hangover Part III), and Peter Stormare (NBC's The Blacklist). More than just stunt casting, these actors legitimately bring the funny.
Bottom line: Tux for All Occasions
Super Reviewer
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