Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Penguins of Madagascar 3D Blu-ray Movie Review

Penguins in the third dimension.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman March 19, 2015

DreamWorks' Madagascar franchise has officially become the X-Men wing of the digital animated genre, spitting out sequel after sequel and, now, spin-off after spin-off featuring favorite characters in starring roles. King Julien has his own Netflix Series. The Penguins have their own Nickelodeon program, and they now also have an animated feature-length film all to themselves. Directed by Eric Darnell and Simon J. Smith, Penguins of Madagascar is, at its best, a serviceable entertainer that's aimed squarely at the kids. While some of the in-jokes are aimed at parents -- references to other movies, actors, and mildly crude little bits -- it's largely just a 90-minute digital energy drink that's colorfully frenetic, cuddly cute, and packed to the flippers with action, wit, and a flurry of jokes, all of which all but devour the plot and bank on side-splitting laughter and dazzling, picture-perfect animation to satisfy rather than tell a story of any real importance.

Penguins CAN fly!

The Penguins -- Skipper (voiced by Tom McGrath), Kowalski (voiced by Chris Miller), Private (voiced by Christopher Knights), and Rico (voiced by Conrad Vernon) -- are on a secret mission to infiltrate Fort Knox, home to...a vending machine that stocks nothing but delicious and oh-so-bad-for-you Cheezy Dibbles. When they become trapped inside the machine -- those things never seem to work right, and the prices are outrageous! -- it sprouts octopus legs and winds up in Venice where the Penguins find themselves captives of Dave (voiced by John Malkovich), a disgruntled ex zoo attraction whose glory was overshadowed by penguins. Now, he's out for revenge. The Penguins are out to save the day, and they're aided by a secret organization known as "North Wind," a covert inter-species task force comprised of "Classified" (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch), Short Fuse (voiced by Ken Jeong), Corporal (voiced by Peter Stormare), and Eva (voiced by Annet Mahendru).

As noted above, story takes a backseat to the endless barrage of physical and verbal antics, and rightfully so, at least in a movie of this style. In many animated films, the end destination is less important than what happens along the way, which is usually only a series of antics and mayhem and a race to see how much action, humor, and winks and nods can be crammed into a 90-minute festival of sound, color, and motion. Penguins of Madagascar takes this idea and runs with it. The core story is built on a simple premise that allows the storytellers to do a great many things, including travel the world, involve more penguins than even the core foursome, tie it into their past, and splash the screen with even more oddities and colors in the final act. Yet Penguins arguably takes it a little too far. It never forgets its story, and most of the humor flows from it -- even if the filmmakers sometimes push it -- and it's clear the story wasn't written just to make a place for the jokes to live. The film ultimately comes a little unraveled when it it falls out of balance, when it pushes so hard to get the last laugh that it sometimes excuses all but the most core dramatic content in favor of getting one more verbal or physical gag up on the screen and dancing out of the speakers. The youngest viewers won't care, but adults and more mature children in the audience may tire of the endless onslaught that gives the movie almost no breathing room off to the sides or underneath.

The movie does get its object right. The film is frequently side-splitting funny. There's never a dull moment, several less than uproarious to be sure but Penguins finds a good, general balance in its humorous delivery, blending verbal and visual mayhem to positive result. The film is as colorfully precise as anything else out there in this class, a true state-of-the-art masterpiece in terms of its raw technical quality and build. The movie showcases a fully realized world, finely tuned character details, and plenty of fun little bits that play with things like perspective and scale and creature physiology and out-there science with razor-sharp digital perfection. The film is also smartly and effortlessly voiced by a team of top-end talent that breathes a healthy vigor into the main performers. While there's nothing so wonderfully tuned and perfectly matched as, say, Will Ferrell and Megamind or Jack Black and Po, the voice cast, whether the collected penguins, John Malkovich as the villainous Dave, or Benedict Cumberbatch as Classified, is uniformly good, enthusiastic, and capable of finding just the right verbal note to drive home a joke or better build a scene.

Penguins of Madagascar 3D Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Penguins of Madagascar's 1080p, 1.85:1-framed Blu-ray 3D presentation is healthy and alluring. The image offers a consistently long and wide sense of space, particularly when it's showcasing wide-open spaces along the frigid Antarctic terrain seen near the beginning and, more briefly, in a desert locale later in the film. Elsewhere, the raw sense of distance and volume isn't quite as tangible or visually stimulating, but even in more confined quarters there's a nice feeling of space beyond the screen's confines. Characters and object within the frame are also healthily voluminous and weighty. The image offers a good many details that tend to stand out from the screen, whether big objects like Penguin beaks or more subtle bits like popping fireworks that look as if they're both well back into the screen and dancing out in front of it. Several shots shrink down to a scope ~2.39:1 ratio and frequently feature objects and characters crossing the black-bar boundary as they appear to leap beyond the screen. On the downside, the image as displayed on the review equipment shows a touch of crosstalk at certain junctures, though examples are far and few between. As for the rest of the image, it's practically identical to the 2D-only transfer (also included in this Blu-ray package on its own disc). Details remain sharp and precise, colors are bold and stimulating, and blacks remain healthy and deep. The image doesn't go appreciably darker, as is often the case with 3D presentations, than its 2D counterpart. Very light banding and a stray bit of aliasing (the rail on the submarine onto which the snack machine is lowered) are visible, but such trace amounts don't warrant a full half-point reduction in score.

Penguins of Madagascar 3D Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Penguins of Madagascar features a DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 lossless soundtrack. While the presentation occasionally feels mildly unenthusiastic in terms of raw volume and delivery potency at reference levels, it still dazzles with a detailed and precise sonic outburst. Music is crisp, well defined, voluminous in stage presence, and pours from every speaker for a completely immersive experience. Sound effects likewise enjoy pinpoint details, effortless movement, precise imagining, and a healthy low end support, whether describing the most chaotic bits of action or the most subtle background details. Minor ambience supports various scenes with, again, a healthy front and back channel collaboration. Even in the track's most fully chaotic moments, the marriage of music and mayhem enjoys precise reproduction, faultless balance, and wide immersion. Dialogue is exactingly delivered from the center with, again, perfect balance against supporting music and effects.

Penguins of Madagascar 3D Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Penguins of Madagascar contains a bunch of fluffy, kid-oriented extras all included on the standalone 2D disc. Not extra 3D supplements are included. Also inside the Blu-ray case, buyers will find a DVD copy of the film as well as a voucher for a UV/iTunes digital copy.

• Top Secret Guide to Becoming an Elite Agent (1080p, 3:39): A comical look at the importance of a keen eye, false identities, the ability to make split-second decisions, lock picking, parkour, martial arts, mastery of language, a keen sense of deduction, intelligence, moxie, steel trap memory...and an appreciation for Bavarian Folk Music. In other words, everything the Penguins don't have.
• Music Video (1080p, 3:18): "He is Dave."
• Flipper Slap Shake Waddle and Roll (1080p, 2:06): The Penguins perform a flippin' good song and dance routine.
• Music Video (1080p, 3:18): "Celebrate" by Pitbull.
• Do the Penguin Shake with tWitch (1080p, 2:26): tWitch shows off a dance routine he made for the movie.
• Deleted Scene (1080p): Orangefinger (1:20) with Intro (Audio Only), a fun little Penguin comment that plays over the menu before starting the scene.
• Madagascar Mash Up (1080p, 3:12): Highlights of the Penguins' adventures.
• Global Flight Plan (1080p, 1:29): A look at how the Penguins became secret agents and their history of top-secret spy work.
• Cheezy Dibbles Ad (1080p, 0:32): A fun Penguins-themed commercial for the snack food featured in the film.
• Gallery (1080p, 2:18): A series of stills from the film.
• Penguins of Madagascar Theatrical Trailer (1080p, 2:25).
• Sneak Peek (1080p): Home, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, DreamWorks Animation 20th Anniversary, King Julien, and Turbo F.A.S.T.
• The World of DreamWorks Animation (1080p): Music videos, trailers, and more, for Shrek, Madagascar, How to Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda, The Croods, Turbo, and Mr. Peabody & Sherman.

Penguins of Madagascar 3D Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Color, color color, movement, movement, movement, humor, humor, humor. Penguins of Madagascar doesn't amount to much more than that, and it satisfies requirements as, essentially, a digital baby-sitter that frequently pushes story details aside for, well, more color, more movement, and more humor. It's effective for what it needs to be, and truth be told much of it truly is legitimately funny. Ultimately, though, it's about perspective. While the movie doesn't bring anything new to the animated table, it does offer a steady diet of mostly hit humor wrapped up in a simple story of comical revenge. A few good core life lessons are tossed in, but this one's primarily for kids only, unlike the best of the digital animated world that strikes the perfect balance between kid-friendly and adult-approved. DreamWorks' Blu-ray release of Penguins of Madagascar features stellar video, quality 3D structure, excellent audio, and a good number of kid-friendly extras. Recommended for 3D TV owners.