Review of Penguins of Madagascar (2014) by Filipeneto — 29 Nov 2018

This film is the perfect example of a problem that has consumed animation films: when a film becomes popular, it is immediately consumed by the industry and turned into a dollar-making machine with a colossal dose of merchandising, TV series, sequels and prequels appearing every moment. After the success of Madagascar, Dreamworks hastened to do so. When the fountain dried up, noting the popularity of the penguins, who were more than secondary characters initially, but to whom it was being given relevance, they decided to make a film where the protagonists are them. Of course it was a mistake. It was the same with Timon and Pumba from "Lion King", with the Minions from "Despicable Me" etc.

Okay, I agree Penguins were funny in that context in which they were born. But I do not think they have what it takes to be protagonists. After three "Madagascar", where their participation was growing, they were worn out and had nothing more to offer. When we look at the script of this movie, this is evident. There's nothing new, it's just a means to profit at the expense of the popularity of the four characters.

In addition to this problem, the film has the most idiotic script I've seen in many years. Simply poorly done, it has more holes than a fishing net. You see, penguins enter Fort Knox, the most sheltered place in the United States after the White House, to devour snacks they'd find in an ordinary convenience store, but the snack machine has a crazy octopus that wants revenge because people like penguins ... then the whole movie is centered on the quest for outlawed octopus, the struggle to curb his plans and an idiotic rivalry between the penguins and a kind of millionaire organization that protects animals (but the octopus is not an animal?) at risk and helpless ... Now you ask: how did the octopus know that the penguins would enter Fort Knox? How did he get in there in the first place? What is the origin of the mysterious substance that transforms penguins into monsters? Where does the "North Wind" money come from? I do not know what you think, but I kept thinking the writers should be drunk or drugged when they wrote this.

Technically, the film does not bring anything interesting either. I have seen CGI better and more realistic, the animations are not beautiful nor bring the brightness of other films, the colors seem a little faded and the soundtrack is quite weak.