Penguins of Madagascar

"Well, penguins are our flesh and feathers! They're US! And if anyone's going to save us, it's us."

"But sir, we've got to be five miles up. That pretty much limits our options."

"I MAKE MY OWN OPTIONS."

Skipper (McGrath), Kowalski (Miller), Rico (Vernon), and Private (Knights) have been a team all their lives.  They are bored with life at the circus and decide to break into Fort Knox to celebrate Private's birthday.  However, they are captured by Dr. Octavius Brine (Malkovich), who reveals himself to be an octopus named Dave.  Dave hates the penguins and has been plotting revenge against them... but they don't remember him.  He was an attraction at the zoo until they replaced him... at many different zoos.

They manage to escape, with assistance from an elite spy group called North Wind.  North Wind is a sleek operation with cool gadgets.  They are led by Classified (Cumberbatch), who immediately clashes with Skipper.  Can the team stay one step ahead of North Wind and save all the zoo penguins from Dave?


Dreamworks Animations' Madagascar series is extremely popular.  It has 3 films (Madagascar, Madagascar 2, and Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted), 2 TV shows (The Penguins of Madagascar and All Hail King Julien), along with several short films.  The penguins have been beloved characters from the beginning, with their over-the-top antics.  In 2008, Nickelodeon gave the penguins their own TV show, which ran for 3 seasons.  In 2012 when the series ended, Dreamworks announced that the penguins would receive their own film in 2015.

While the penguins are entertaining characters, I had reservations about them as the focus of a film.  I missed the other characters from the series.  The penguins are great, but it would be nice to see some of the other animals (King Julien and Mort were a welcome addition in the in-credits song).  The new characters worked because of the actors that voiced them.  John Malkovich brought the right amount of insanity to Dave, while Benedict Cumberbatch made Classified a slick character while still embracing the comedy of the character.  I love Ken Jeong and I wish Short Fuse had a bigger role to see what he could do with the part.

I enjoyed the film, but I think some of the other Madagascar films are better.

Penguins of Madagascar (2014) 92 minutes
Director: Eric Darnell & Simon J. Smith
Starring: Tom McGrath as Skipper
Chris Miller as Kowalski
Christopher Knights as Private
Conrad Vernon as Rico
John Malkovich as Dave / Dr. Octavius Brine
Benedict Cumberbatch as Classified
Ken Jeong as Short Fuse
Annet Mahendru as Ava
Peter Stormare as Corporal