Penguins of Madagascar Movie Poster Image

Penguins of Madagascar

age 7+
(i)

 

Entertaining Madagascar spin-off mixes peril and humor.
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  • Review Date: November 26, 2014
  • Rated: PG
  • Genre: Family and Kids
  • Release Year: 2014
  • Running Time: 92 minutes

Penguins of Madagascar gallery

What parents need to know

Educational value

Kids may learn a bit about penguins in the wild.

Positive messages

Don't judge others by their appearance. Private is adorable, but there's much more to him -- Skipper realizes that it's not what you look like but what you do that counts. Other themes include loyalty and bravery under pressure.

Positive role models

Private wants everyone to realize what a valued member of the team he really is. Skipper says that what someone looks like doesn’t matter -- it's what they do. Skipper and the team look out for each other and care for others no matter the cost. On the downside, there's only one female character in the movie, and she's a love interest who has few lines.  

Violence & scariness

At one point the penguins think that Private has been killed. Lots of chases/explosions/scenes of peril. The penguins are kidnapped by an evil scientist that turns out to be an evil octopus plotting to kidnap all of the world's penguins. Penguins are put in cages like jails. The penguins fight octopi. A monster penguin eats a baby kitten, then spits it out. The penguins get sucked out of a plane, are trapped on a boat with no food or water, and are turned into monsters.

Sexy stuff

Kowalski has a love interest, Eva the owl. He follows her around, and she kisses him in one of the last scenes. His face has lipstick marks all over it.

Language

Pop culture references take the place of swear words (like "Parker Posey!"). "It's flipping useless" in reference to flippers. After the penguins get transformed into monsters, one has a "butt hand" -- a hand coming out of his butt (they explain it in case it wasn't clear). 

Consumerism

The penguins eat brandless cheese poofs. Many off-screen consumer tie-ins, including games, toys, and other merchandise.

Drinking, drugs, & smoking

One scene where government agents are sitting on what's supposed to be a yacht drinking what looks like champagne.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Penguins of Madagascar is a nonstop action movie/spy thriller about the four madcap penguins from the Madagascar movies. Expect lots of explosions and chase scenes -- by plane, gondola, pest control truck, etc. -- that put the penguins in frequent peril; at one point, the team fears that one of their members has been killed. The penguins are fighting a team of evil octopi that are killed in different ways. There's a bit of crude humor (a penguin is cursed with a "butt hand") and one small, mild romantic subplot, but kids who like action, the Madagascar movies, and the penguins' TV show will enjoy the movie. Plus, there are positive messages about not judging others based on their appearance, as well as loyalty and bravery under pressure.

What's the story?

Madagascar's team of madcap penguins -- Skipper (voiced by Tom McGrath), Kowalski (Chris Miller), Rico (John DiMaggio), and Private (Christopher Knights) -- find themselves in the hands of mad scientist Dr. Octavius Brine (John Malkovich), who turns out to be the octopus "Dave" out for revenge. Dave is still furious over all the attention the adorable penguins stole from him at the zoo when they were younger, so he sets out to destroy them. The penguins escape Dave's clutches, only to be rescued by an elite team of secret agents called the North Wind who are led by the wolf known as "Classified" (Benedict Cumberbatch). They must work together to defeat Dave and save the penguins of the world. 

Is it any good?

QUALITY

PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR is a fun spy thriller with elite secret agents and lots of action. The penguins are given a sweet back story about how they first came together in the Antarctic and eventually became secret agents. There's a lot to look at and laugh at, and fans of the Madagascar films will enjoy seeing the penguins again. 

Cumberbatch is excellent as the James Bond-esque Wolf, who heads the North Wind. And Malkovich is perfectly creepy as Dave, the bitter octopus. The four penguins at the heart of the story are a funny, all-male family that are devoted to each other, which is cute -- but it's a shame that there's only one female character in the movie and she hardly has anything to do. 

Families can talk about...

  • Families can talk about what it's like to feel unappreciated. Private doesn't think that anyone realizes what an asset he is to the team. Have you ever felt undervalued? How did you handle it?

  • There's a lot of action and peril in Penguins. Was it ever scary, or did it have less impact because the characters are cartoon penguins/sea creatures? Did you have an idea of how things would turn out? Why?

  • Dave, the maniacal octopus, is overshadowed by the adorable penguins at the zoo. Kids: Have you ever resented younger siblings who might get more attention than you?

  • There's only one female character in Penguins of Madagascar. Does that have an impact on how you feel about it? Why is it important to have role models of both sexes in the media?

Movie details

Theatrical release date:November 26, 2014
DVD release date:March 17, 2015
Cast:Tom McGrath, Benedict Cumberbatch, John Malkovich
Directors:Eric Darnell, Simon J. Smith
Studio:DreamWorks Animation
Genre:Family and Kids
Topics:Adventures, Friendship, Wild animals
Run time:92 minutes
MPAA rating:PG
MPAA explanation:mild action and some rude humor

This review of Penguins of Madagascar was written by

Yvonne Condes
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are conducted by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

Quality

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Learning ratings

  • Best: Really engaging; great learning approach.
  • Very Good: Engaging; good learning approach.
  • Good: Pretty engaging; good learning approach.
  • Fair: Somewhat engaging; OK learning approach.
  • Not for Learning: Not recommended for learning.
  • Not for Kids: Not age-appropriate for kids; not recommended for learning.

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Educator and Parent Written bynickg20 December 3, 2014
age 5+
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Adult Written byB-KMastah December 11, 2014
age 6+

Cute, forgettable fun.

Cute. Very cute (and rather cuddly). This is one of those kids' movies that's made more for teenagers than anyone else. There are tons of references and meta humor abound: a Werner Herzog bit, jokes about the titular penguins' roles, and many puns regarding celebrities' names. It's sharp, but the plot seriously is just Despicable Me 2. I laughed a lot, but that got to be pretty distracting. ***There are spoilers for Despicable Me 2 and possible spoilers for Penguins of Madagascar here, so beware, although the plot here isn't really the main focus.*** There are a bunch of little funny cute blobby things (minions/penguins) and the protagonist(s) get recruited to a secret agency (Anti Villain League/North Wind) to stop a global terrorist (El Macho/Dr. Octavius Brine) that has a special serum that turns the funny cute blobby things (minions/penguins) into bad guys that are different colors (purple/green). There's no way that that's a coincidence. Anyways, the jokes still work, most of the time. The pace is very fast and zippy, but it avoids being too much for most of the movie. There was a ten-minute span in the middle of the movie where I felt a bit exhausted from the near-constant "penguins jokes penguins!" tone, but it picked me back up right after that. Self-aware humor and references go a long way when handled well, and they are here. Now, I didn't see this in 3D because it was only playing twice a day in that format (I wonder what that says about premium ticket sales), but there are still some scenes where it was more than likely used. The animation is strong and cute, really cute, and avoids looking like a TV show or direct-to-DVD movie about 85% of the time. Even if Penguins of Madagascar isn't really memorable, it's funny and cute. 7.3/10, good, one thumb up, above average, etc.
What other families should know
Great messages
Too much violence
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Parent Written byGolden Shark November 29, 2014
age 5+

A big disappointment

This was one of the worst animation movies we have seen lately. The story line is not well articulated and the characters are not well defined. The best of the movie is really the first five minutes part. The penguins are annoyingly fighting some octopuses the whole time. They get some help from all mighty squad of elite animals. Two of them barely talk (owl and seal)
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