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EDITOR'S PICK
'The
Penguins of Madagascar' - flying high (IANS Movie Review)
Rating:
***
These animated, flightless birds fly high in the entertainment arena! In this
edition, the no-nonsense tactical team of penguins, who stole hearts in the
previous three 'Madagascar' films, get their own feature to prove that they are
high-profile entertainers.
Directed by Eric Darnell and Simon J. Smith from a finely tuned script designed
by screenwriters Brandon Sawyer, John Aboud and Michael Colton, the film is a
high-pitched and action-packed, revenge saga.
The film begins by reintroducing, to the audience, the illustrious
globe-trotting spy team of the 'Madagascar' series.
The back-story: Three penguins -- Skipper (Tom McGrath), Kowalski (Chris Miller)
and Rico (Conrad Vernon) step out of the norm of their traditional 'flocking
together' group to save an abandoned rolling egg from hungry seals. The little
penguin that hatches from the egg is named Private (Christopher Knights).
Together, they form a formidable group unearthing covert operatives ever since.
Ten years later, during one of their espionage expeditions at the behest of Dave
(John Malkovich), also known as Dr. Octavius Brine who is a super genius Octopus
disguised as a human scientist, the quartet are captured by North Wind rescue
team. This is an elite undercover inter-species task force dedicated to helping
animals who can't help themselves.
Now in captivity, the four of them realise that Dave is nursing a grudge against
them for stealing the attention showered on him years ago at the San Diego
Marine Park, although they were oblivious of the incident.
And now he is out to seek revenge against all penguins for being the more
popular and beloved attractions at soos. He intends carrying out his plan by
subjecting all penguins to 'Medusa Serum', a solution he developed which would
change them and thus render them unappealing to humans for the rest of time.
Luckily for the penguins, the North Wind rescue team arrive to help. The team is
headed by the arrogant gray wolf known only as Classified (Benedict
Cumberbatch). He is assisted by the loving bear Corporal (Peter Stormare), the
hot-headed, explosive and demolition expert harp seal known as Short Fuse (Ken
Jeong) and the intelligent 'Intelligence Analyst' snowy owl Eva (Annet
Mahendru),
It's race against time for the combined teams under Skipper and Classified to
see if they can stop Dave before he succeeds.
Narrated in a non-linear fashion, the story is not at all elevating. The plot is
simple, cute and occasionally funny. The voices lent by the star cast
synchronise aptly with the characters and their moods.
While the kids will ruminate over the high octane action scenes, it's the
pun-filled dialogues like 'Nicohlas! Cage them,' or 'We are North Wind! Nobody
dare break wind' that will keep the adults in splits.
Overall, with attractive well-packaged visuals, good picture-perfect animation
and competitive background score, the film will appeal to kids and adults alike.
It is engaging and entertaining at the same time.