Film Review: The Penguins of Madagascar is worth watching twice

Director: Eric Darnell, Simon J Smith
Voice Cast: Tom McGrath, Benedict Cumberbatch, John Malkovich, Chris Miller, Christopher Knights, Conrad Vernon
Rating: ***1/2

What's it about:

If you've been a fan of the Madagascar film franchise and the TV series, you're no stranger to the antics of the penguins in question: Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private. A trip to Fort Knox for some quality time with a vending machine gets them more than they bargained for: quality time with an old foe Dave The Octopus (Malkovich). Dave doesn't crave world domination, though. He just wants a world free of cute and cuddly creatures. Skipper and his 'boys' don't account for some unasked-for help from The North Wind, a covert outfit that has a grey wolf Classified (Cumberbatch), a snow Owl Eva (Annet Mahendru), explosive expert Short Fuse (Ken Jeong) and a Russian polar bear called Corporal (Peter Stormare). But really, who needs help?

 
What's hot:

The brilliant animation aside, after three movies with Madagascar's principal cast, it's heartening to see some of the other memorable characters get their own film. In this one, they poke fun at the franchise in particular, at spy films in general and get on with the usual gags and some truly brilliant new ones and puns. Because you know, you can never have enough of those...
 
What's not:

The film does have some awkward moments. And I won't spoil it for you, just figure it out for yourselves and good luck explaining certain scenes to your kids.

What to do:

This one's gonna be a hit with the children and some of the adults too. And a repeat watch won't be such a bad idea either!