Review – Penguins of Madagascar
When I mentioned to friends how excited I was to see the Penguins of Madagascar (having guffawed my way through the trailer), derision and skepticism crossed their faces.
This is, after all, a film that is a spin off of a tv show, that was in turn a spin off of a movie that has already spawned three sequels. Accusations, and occasionally even GIFS, of flogging dead horses were tossed around, and my excitement for the film was met with the increasingly familiar attitude of ‘sequel snobbery’; the expectation that only an original premise will make a worthwhile film. This attitude rears it’s head every time a sequel to a beloved film is announced – denying a studio the right to make money on their intellectual property and potentially denying the audience such wonderful films as Toy Story 3, and Shrek 2.
Penguins of Madagascar is not in the same league as either of those two, but it is a pretty darned good film, despite the fact that it is quite clearly a money making exercise for Dreamworks (who are, believe it or not, a business whose primary purpose is to make money rather than the pursuit of artistic ideals).
It follows the story of the Penguins we first met in 2005’s Madagascar, as they attempt to thwart the dastardly Dave (voiced by John Malkovich) in his terrifyingly evil plot to destroy the zoo as we know it. In this noble quest they are aided by The North Wind – an elite undercover task force headed up by Bumblesquat Cumberbund’s Agent Classified.
It doesn’t have the brains or the heart of a great animated film – there are no great emotional characters arcs or subtle psychological undertones, but it’s fun, it’s funny and it’s full of cute penguins! The four lead penguins (Skipper, Rico, Kowalski, and Private) are enjoyable characters with solid chemistry – as an ensemble cast they work well together, each with their own individual foibles and weaknesses, and yet strong as a unit. Their personalities and the tone of their adventures have been honed through 3 seasons of a tv show and 3 films, so the writers and voice artists know them inside out.
It’s a film that doesn’t take itself even slightly seriously, but knows how to make people laugh. There’s broad slapstick, witty one liners, wacky characters and a fair few fart gags. It does have the standard Dreamworks over-reliance on pop-culture references which, while funny at the time of release, cause the films to date much faster than Disney or Pixar’s offerings. Remember in Shrek, when Princess Fiona pulls out her ‘Matrix’ moves to ward off Robin Hood, then completely forgets how to fight and needs to be rescued when Lord Farquad’s men capture her at the end, because The Matrix was the biggest thing ever in 1999 and the filmmakers wanted to ‘homage’ to it more than they wanted a consistent and believable character? Yeah, like that…
It’s the consistent tone of the film that I think makes this film a success. It’s quirky; it’s fast paced; it’s just really daft – and that works, because it’s not trying to be anything other than a silly, fun film.
Penguins of Madagascar doesn’t break new ground. It wont be remembered in 5 years time, and it wont cause you to rethink your life in any meaningful way, but it’s consistently funny, well written, beautifully animated, hilariously acted and just a thoroughly enjoyable way to spend 92 minutes. And I’ll tell you something else; the kids in the audience absolutely loved it.
Just smile and wave, boys; smile and wave
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