The cheeky, MacGuyver meets Harry Tasker meets Jackie Chan, penguins that have being hilarious secondary characters in the Madagascar movies have finally got their own movie.
Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private find themselves teaming up with a secret organization called North Wind (think S.H.I.E.L.D. without the Hydra influence) to take on the might of Dr. Octavius Brine, a disgruntled Octopus whose name is actually Dave, to save the world.
The penguins have always been the funniest thing in the Madagascar movies providing wonderful gags and one liners at will. But this was always in short doses, and of course the big question is, can they hold their own in an entire movie focused solely on them? Of course they can! And they do so with a non-stop flurry of gags and set pieces (the Gondola chase is pure brilliance) that must contain the most laugh out loud moments in any movie this year. Genuinely, Penguins of Madagascar is downright hilarious. If it’s not the jam as many celebrity names into the script as possible (this is incredibly well done and brilliantly executed) to the penguins unique clown like personalities, it’s something else. The gags come thick and fast, and most hit home with pin point accuracy. Kids and adults will choke on the popcorn time and time again, so don’t stuff your mouth.
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The penguins themselves are voiced by Tom McGrath, Chris Miller, Christopher Knights and Conrad Vernon and these guys really have embodied the personalities of our flightless friends.
The studio did wheel out a few big names for supporting roles including the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch (who mispronounces penguins quite alot of the time. Apparently nobody checked him on it) and John Malkovich who voices Dave. Besides the penguins themselves, Ken Jeong does some wonderful work as Short Fuse, although to be anal about it, his voice doesn’t suit the character.
It’s hard to throw criticism at Penguins of Madagascar. Sure, it’s not perfect. A slightly contrived origin story at the beginning seems painstakingly slow and the last act is about all the place at times, but these are minor gripes. This is one of the funniest movies you’ll see this year. Penguins of Madagascar is freezing awesome!
