Penguins of Madagascar

Penguins of Madagascar (2014) gives the four penguins from the Madagascar films their own picture. Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private were originally a joke lasting a few scenes. Audiences liked them more than the rest of the films, which produced first a television series and then this. The story: an octopus named Dave wants revenge on all penguins. His reason is that at zoos the visitors always look at the penguins and nobody sees the octopus. The villain's motivation is envy and the film takes it seriously. There is also a covert animal agency called the North Wind; Benedict Cumberbatch voices a wolf. The humour is fast and largely verbal; all of Dave's orders are puns built on famous actors' names, and that disappears in translation. The opening in Antarctica begins as a parody of a nature documentary and is the best part of the film. The action is deliberately shaped like a spy film. There is no more story depth than in the main series; the whole thing runs on pace. It fell short commercially and DreamWorks scaled back in that period. It runs 92 minutes. Good for: watching with children, fast animated comedy, and fans of Madagascar. Less good for: the story is thin and the humour goes past very quickly.