PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR DVD (2014)




SYNOPSIS: They're cute...they're cuddly...they're back! From the creators of Madagascar comes the hilarious new movie that proves global espionage is for the birds! In DreamWorks' PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR, your favorite super-spies- Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private join forces with the elite North Wind team to save the world. It's a side-splitting, globe-trotting adventure the whole family will love!

MOVIE REVIEW:

Honestly, I can’t even tell the difference between Kowalski, Rico or Private but I still enjoyed this Madagascar-spin off, Penguins of Madagascar.

After breaking into Fort Knox to celebrate Private’s birthday, our four flightless misfits are kidnapped by an evil Octopus named Dave (John Malkovich). Dave’s master plan is to round up all the penguins in the world and turned them into monsters. With the help of secret animal rescue operative, North Wind, will the penguins saved their own species in the end? 

The scripting while obviously inspired by spy movies is often absurd and hilarious. It’s liked a funny parody of the genre and the pacing of the movie is so frenetic that you might miss all the sight gags and funny lines at times. One repeated gag is the crazy mash-ups of celebrity names; Nicolas Cage, Drew Barrymore and Hugh Jackman are among the many being made fun of.  

Placing this side-by-side with How To Train Your Dragon 2 or even Kung Fu Panda, the animation by comparison is no doubt a little less detailed. Even the various globetrotting setting, which takes viewers to places liked Venice and Shanghai are remarkable flat. Fortunately, the numerous silly action pieces once again offset the disappointing visuals.  

Benedict Cumberbatch is simply hilarious as the leader of North Wind, a gray wolf named Classified. The Brit is definitely on a roll with both live-action and animation pictures. At the same time, you can relish in listening to Malkovich embodies an evil character. Ken Jeong and Peter Stormare also “appear” as a seal and muscular polar bear with a soft heart respectively.

The penguins who are often scene-stealers in the Madagascar franchise finally has a chance to shine on their own in this maniac movie. You won’t be disappointed by Penguins of Madagascar by the time the credits roll, a packet of Cheesy Dibbles in hand to go with it will be even nicer. 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Cheesy Dibbles Ad is a fake product commercial touting the cheesy snack favoured by the penguins. The rest of the minimal extras include a Gallery, Trailer and World of DreamWorks Animation.

AUDIO/VISUAL:

Like any other DreamWorks title, the visual and audio aspects are of the highest standard. Colors, details and textures are remarkable and the audio track featured a series of aggressive and exciting sound effects. 

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee



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 ABOUT THE MOVIE

Genre: CG Animation
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Peter Stormare, John Malkovich, Tom McGrath, Chris Miller, Christopher Knights, Ken Jeong, Annet Mahendru, Werner Herzog
Director: Eric Darnell, Simon J. Smith
Rating:
Year Made: 2014

 SPECIAL FEATURES

- Cheesy Dibbles Ad
- Gallery
- World of DreamWorks Animation

 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Languages: English/Cantonese/Mandarin/Vietnamese/Thai
Subtitles: English/Cantonese/Bahasa Indonesia/Bahasa Malaysia/Mandarin/Vietnamese/Thai
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Running Time:  1 hr 32 mins
Region Code: 3
Distributor: HVN Entertainment Singapore