After stealing the show in the previous three Madagascar films, receiving their own long running kids show, and a handful of TV movies and videogames, it makes sense the cute and cuddly penguins finally receive their own film. And while Penguins is fast-paced, jam-packed with some amazing visuals, and occasionally funny, it lacks the heart that’s made previous DreamWorks films effective. While Skipper, Private, Rico, and Kowalski bring plenty of burping, slapstick, and other such schlock that will make your six-year-old laugh, for the audience that can tie their own shoelaces, Penguins of Madagascar doesn’t have a whole lot to deliver.

 

The plot, as it is, is essentially the only joke Penguins could think up repeated for 90 minutes until the credits finally, mercifully, roll. The titular flightless birds, despite an almost Inspector Clouseau level of incompetence, are a team of world class spies, doing everything from taking down villains that would give Bind a run for his money to breaking into Fort Knox to steal Cheesy Puffs.

 

This time they go up against the wonderfully named Dr. Octavious Brine, an octopus disguised as a human scientist (just roll with it) who has made it his life’s goal to kidnap all the penguins of the world and transform them into hideous monsters.  A plot that’s almost identical to 2013s wildly successful Despicable Me 2, but I digress.  Now the penguins must team up with North Wind, a team of actual secret agents, led by Benedict Cumberbatch (in a role I hope for his sake he was well paid for), and save their race.

 

What really sinks the Madagascar Franchise’s latest offering is its lack of substance. For all the maniac pacing and abundance of animated action, ultimately it all feels shallow, primarily due to the main characters. The Penguins can crack puns and sight gags with the best of them, but when it comes to holding an hour and a half long film, they falter. Their scene stealing roles in the previous Madagascar films worked because their role was limited. They showed up, made a joke, then promptly left, leaving the better developed characters to carry the story. Here, they lack that useful ability. Jetpacks and copious amounts of penguin-kung fu do nothing to make our main heroes any less dull.

 

The humor is strictly aimed towards the younger crowd as well. Other than a few self-aware jabs at the oversaturation nature documentaries have gone through in recent years, the jokes fall flatter than a pancake. Some examples of the highbrow humor your already overly expensive movie ticket (now with a 3-D upcharge!) will get you are Private the “cute one”, forced to cross dress and masquerade as a mermaid, “Rico the arms expert” and his quite frankly disgusting, superpower of swallowing and spitting out explosives at will, and more scenes of octopi being pummeled into submission than I can count. I could hear plenty of children laughing (and feel them kick the back of my seat), but I spent most of the movie with a grimace on my face that’d put Medusa to shame.

 

If you’re looking for a way to quiet your kids up for a few hours you could do worse than Penguins of Madagascar. It’s ( mostly) harmless fluff made for and marketed straight to the kiddies. For adults, just wait until Madagascar 4’s no doubt forthcoming release.

 

2 stars out of 5