ABOVE: Watch the trailer for Penguins of Madagascar.
TORONTO — A lot of kids — and the adults who love them — will be heading to cinemas this weekend to catch Penguins of Madagascar.
The 3D animated adventure features the voices of Benedict Cumberbatch, John Malkovich and Ken Jeong and was co-directed by Eric Darnell and Simon J. Smith.
Will kids enjoy these familiar characters in a movie of their own? Will parents be able to sit through the movie? Here’s a look at some of the reviews.
“This is a joyless, frenetic film that is very rarely funny,” complained Claudia Puig of USA Today.
“Penguins, in general, are an adorable lot. But in this limp spinoff, the fourth go-round in the Madagascar franchise that began in 2005, they come across as charmless and surprisingly interchangeable.”
Puig said there is plenty of action on screen but not many truly funny moments.
“The animation is hectic, with the action sequences more hyperactive and bombarding than enjoyable, and presented in 3-D to no discernible advantage,” she wrote.
“Penguins of Madagascar feels like the animation equivalent of junk food. It’s empty, free of value and forgettable.”
At the New York Daily News, Elizabeth Weitzman said the movie has enough to keep both children and parents entertained.
“Given the low bar set by the Madagascar films, this spoofy spy sendup comes as a happy surprise,” she wrote. “Yes, the pacing occasionally drags, but the surprisingly sharp humour and well-animated action sequences ought to hold everyone’s attention.”
Weitzman added: “In the end, the penguins’ misadventures are amusing, no one’s intelligence is insulted, and everybody will walk out happy.”
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Lindsey Bahr of The Associated Press isn’t as confident Penguins will appeal to adults.
“This movie is almost exclusively and unapologetically for tots. Kids will no doubt be amused by the exhausting madcap antics of the cuddly breakout stars of the popular Madagascar films,” Bahr opined. “Parents: probably less so.”
Calling it “a fairly amusing, surface-level spectacle,” Bahr said Penguins of Madagascar has a simple story, basic characters and no overriding moral lesson.
“Overall, neither animation nor storytelling is particularly elevated in this outing.”
At ComingSoon.net, Scott Chitwood thought it was “a really fun film that both adults and children will enjoy.”
Chitwood singled out the work of Malkovich as the octopus Dave.
“He’s never done an animated comedic role before, but he’s absolutely brilliant at it,” he wrote. “It really feels like he’s putting his whole heart into the performance and he’s completely unafraid to venture into the absurd with his character. He’s a fantastic animated villain.”
Chitwood, though, was disappointed with the ending, calling it “a little generic compared to the outrageous nature of the rest of the film.”
That outrageousness didn’t thrill Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter, who found “all that manic energy ultimately proves to be more exhausting than exhilarating.”
He wrote: “There’s much breaking of wind and blowing of chunks along the way, but there are also some smart visual gags.”
Rechtshaffen said the 3D animation comes up “a bit flat” and the main characters needed a bit more development because “most of the shtick fails to stick.”
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Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN also thought the characters in the spin-off needed to be fleshed out.
“Aimed primarily at the little ones who’ll be too distracted by the frenzied action scenes to notice the absence of a compelling or even coherent plot, this film doesn’t have the easy charm of the previous Madagascar movies,” wrote Masand.
“But for the latest installment of a much-loved franchise, the Penguins of Madagascar feels surprisingly underwhelming.”
Tom Russo of the Boston Globe seemed to agree.
“It feels like more of this movie’s story depends on frenzied action than it has in the other Madagascar installments,” he wrote. “A visually swirling high-altitude free-fall sequence delivers, and so does an imaginatively choreographed Venice gondola chase. But beyond some imagery, we don’t get much that’s bigger or better than on TV. Nothing narratively richer, certainly.”
Postmedia critics Chris Knight described Penguins as “a supremely silly, energetically entertaining enterprise from start to finish.”
“The movie has the pacing of a Road Runner cartoon from the ’50s, except it lasts 92 minutes instead of just seven,” said Knight.
“The jokes are clever, and the choice of an octopus as a villain is inspired; you could be all day disarming him.”
The Guardian‘s Jordan Hoffman was more verbose in his description of the movie.
“Penguins of Madagascar is playtime writ large, as high-energy anthropomorphised birds hurl puns like ninja stars and race from one absurd set-piece to the next. Lose pace at your own peril,” wrote Hoffman.
“Penguins of Madagascar is an injection of sugar direct to the pineal gland and woe betide any parent who tries to get their children to take a nap after seeing it.”
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