And, oh yes: Even computer-generated penguins really are just the cutest. But the film moves so fast, failed jokes are forgotten easily, and its commitment to daffiness strikes the right chord. A common complaint of modern animated films is that the comedy tries too hard to be adult arguably, the Penguins script (by John Aboud, Michael Colton, and Brandon Sawyer) tilts too near “Dad humor” (oy, these puns). Skipper takes them to Fort Knox to buy Cheesy Dibbles for Private’s birthday. Ten years later, Skipper and his buddies become bored by the circus from the last MADAGASCAR movie. A merry entertainment that never pretends to greatness, Penguins of Madagascar is all about antics, verbal and visual. PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR shows how three brave penguins, Skipper, Kowalski and Rico, saved a penguin egg that became their teammate, the cute and cuddly Private. That is perhaps too many words dispatched on a plot that’s hardly the point. Skipper’s unit is on the case, but another, more elite organization called the North Wind has dibs it’s led by Cumberbatch’s supercilious, espresso-drinking wolf dubbed “Classified” and includes a sexpot owl named Eva – disappointingly, the lone female in the film. Young Private (Knights) is the foundling they meet at the film’s beginning and coddle like a little brother, but Private wants to be taken seriously now.Īnd these are serious (okay, seriously silly) times, what with a mad octopus named Dave (Malkovich) determined to wipe out the world’s penguin population: Their cuteness offends him. Kowalski (Miller) is the brains, while wild-eyed Rico (Vernon) boasts a special weapon in his propulsive powers of regurgitation. Voiced by Tom McGrath (co-director of the Madagascar series), Skipper is the leader of a ragtag group of amateur secret agents. But unless you’re especially sensitive to height or a signature hair tuft, the newcomer may have some trouble telling Skipper from Rico from Kowalski, all introduced (as their younger selves) amidst a whirr of droll dialogue, acrobatic action, and an inspired cameo from Werner Herzog.ĭoes it matter? You get the drift. Regular viewers of the Emmy Award-winning Nickelodeon series The Penguins of Madagascar – a spin-off of 2005’s Madagascar, which also spawned two film sequels – should have no problem identifying old friends. What’s black and white and, at first, a bit of a blur? That’d be the penguin leads of this latest feature from DreamWorks Animation.

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