By Bob Garver<\/p>\n
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The most noticeable theme that runs throughout \u201cPenguins of Madagascar\u201d is probably cuteness. It\u2019s the penguin heroes\u2019 greatest asset and the octopus villains\u2019 biggest scourge. The heroes undeniably possess it, the villains possess it more than they think they do (I was delighted by the squeaking of their suction cups), and even toward the end when some of the penguins are turned into \u201cmonsters,\u201d they\u2019re actually still pretty cute. They look a little sickly, but in a way that makes you want to nurse them back to health, like when you see footage of animals covered in oil after a tanker spill. My point is that this is an extremely cute movie, one that\u2019s nigh impossible to resist.<\/p>\n
The plot follows the scene-stealing side characters from the three \u201cMadagascar\u201d movies, who have always followed their own agenda anyway. We see their origins as they defy the pointless penguin tradition of marching nowhere in particular, and soon find themselves adrift in search of adventure. We then cut to the end of the third movie, and the story picks up from there. They break free of the circus, break into Fort Knox, get captured by evil octopus Dave (John Malkovich), and get rescued by a team of arrogant Arctic animal spies called the North Wind. Our heroes set out to stop Dave and rescue all the penguins of the world before their polar opposites can do so and steal all the glory for themselves (assuming, of course, that either team can succeed).<\/p>\n
The Penguins consist of bossy leader Skipper (Tom McGrath), brainiac Kowalski (Chris Miller), expert swallower Rico (Conrad Vernon) and loveable bumbler Private (Christopher Knights). Private is the \u201cbaby\u201d of the group, as the others have known him since he was just an egg. They caused him to be hatched prematurely, and thus might be responsible for his somewhat stunted development. He\u2019s a constant subject for ribbing by his older \u201cbrothers,\u201d especially Skipper, and you can probably guess that it won\u2019t be until he goes missing that everyone realizes that they should have been nicer to him. You\u2019ll probably also guess that he\u2019ll be the one to save the day. I\u2019m not saying you\u2019ll be right, just that the film definitely seems to be setting up for it.<\/p>\n
The action and humor of the movie are both highly frantic. As far as the action, this sounds like it would be a problem because it would result in the film coming off as confused and unfocused. In reality it keeps the pretty standard spy story from getting too comfortable with itself. In fact, the film is at its dullest in its third act when it becomes focused and has to wrap itself up in conventional fashion.<\/p>\n
The frantic pace lends itself even better to the film\u2019s humor. Simply put, the film has a lot of gags. There are bound to be some hits (I liked Skipper\u2019s insistence that the team has popped up in Ireland when in fact they\u2019re somewhere very different) and some misses (there\u2019s an increasingly forced running gag where Dave yells orders to his henchmen and unintentionally forms the names of famous actors, which doesn\u2019t work because the film doesn\u2019t establish the names of the henchmen), but at least there are a lot of them, so there\u2019s never any doubt that the film is working hard to please you.<\/p>\n
\u201cPenguins of Madagascar\u201d doesn\u2019t strive for greatness, though I did like it more than any of its \u201cMadagascar\u201d brethren. The kids at my screening really ate it up and the adults seemed to enjoy watching it with them. And yes, I cracked up myself a few times. It\u2019s a cute movie that makes a cute effort and is a cute way to spend an afternoon.<\/p>\n
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Two and a Half Stars out of Five.<\/p>\n
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\u201cPenguins of Madagascar\u201d is rated PG for mild action and some rude humor. Its running time is 92 minutes.<\/p>\n
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