6/10

The best part of the Madagascar trilogy is back in this prequel animated action film telling the origins of the spy penguins. Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private are the birds in question. They travel the world in search of an evil scientist names Dr. Brine (John Malkovich). Brine is secretly trying to rid the world of cute penguins because of a haunting history dealing with such birds. The penguins are joined up with the elite forces of a chic undercover organization, The North Wind. Led by handsome and husky Agent Classified (Benedict Cumberbatch). “Penguins of Madagascar” certainly isn’t the best of the four films, but there is enough here for an enjoyably entertaining family experience at the movies this Thanksgiving. What lights the fuse on this splendid humor is the notable voice work. Some really solid Hollywood heavyweights are lending their solid vocal work to the film. Malkovich was completely unnoticable until i saw the credits. I was really impressed with the kind of methods he used to hide his noticable audio. Cumberbatch’s personality definitely lends itself to this secret agent character that is a refreshing welcome to the tired cliche characters this trilogy is known for. There are times in the movie where you question his morals on the plans he thinks up, but it’s entertaining to see the way his conversations bounce off each of the penguins. The penguins themselves had many funny moments that kept me chuckling. While i am not a big fan of puns in children’s movies, i can say that this movie had a very original way of presenting them. The penguins talk to other captured penguins in the film by using real life actor names and turning those names into puns. For example, Rico voices one line “Halle, Bury him”, or “Nicolas, Cage him”. It becomes very impressive when he commands about ten of these as fast as he can in the final fight of the movie. I think puns are the easiest form of comedy just under toilet humor, but i have to give credit where it’s deserved with this movie. The animation is solid, but not as in depth as some of my other animated favorites this year like “The Lego Movie”, “The Box Trolls”, or “Big Hero 6”. There are some subtle real life shots used as backgrounds of scenes that are drawn up close. Many people might miss seeing a real life New York park in the background as the penguins battle Dr. Brine. It’s really impressive to include real life trees and buildings to compliment the penguins moving about the city. The film is a quick 82 minute sit, and i think it’s good that it didn’t go longer than that. The idea of these characters with their own film is a good one, but there just isn’t enough in this script to push it to an hour and a half. The film’s final fight sequence did go a little overboard and started to drag the movie down as it hit the 20 minute mark. The movie ended just before it really started exposing some of the problems with the way the pacing was constructed. Overall, “Penguins of Madagascar” is a welcome sequel/prequel that is certainly the best one since the impressive debut of the original. There’s not a lot here to make it memorable five years from now to anyone but penguin lovers, but i think a matinee showing with the family is justified. The Penguins don’t have the high points of other animated films, but they can’t match it in one specific area: chaotic comedy craziness right with whacky, lovable characters to warm your heart this holiday season.