The Penguins of Madagascar: 6/10

If you are going out of bounds, be fully out of bounds.

If you are going to create a wacky, out-of-control movie devoid of any slowdown moments or sentimental value---keep it that way.

This is what makes Emperor's New Groove such a phenomenal gem, and what made a movie like Shark Tale a jarring confusing drag. The Penguins of Madagascar falls somewhere in the middle, combining wacky ridiculous humor with a slight bit of heart that actually bogs the movie down a few notches. The additional cast of characters joining the penguins also actually brings it down a few notches. And lastly, the extended running time, which especially feels dragging for a movie that moves so fast, prevents this flick from truly excelling.

Nonetheless, just like in all the Madagascar movies, when the penguins are present and behaving zany, this is when the movie shines the brightest and flourishes the most. We had been begging for these characters to get their own movie; as their snarky creative schemes and no Fs attitude contradicted the pace and characterizations of the others involved---minus the lemurs which sadly have no place here. And although our wish came true, it still awkwardly left us yearning to see more from the original Madagascar cast.

If you are going to replace Alex and company, and replace the equally-ridiculous lemur crew (especially King Julien flawlessly voiced by Sacha Baron Cohen), you better have an awesome cast taking the wheel. Unfortunately, this is not the case as we have ho-hum secret agents that serve only as a compliment to a quick-and-easy plot involving an angry John Malkovich-voiced octopus wishing revenge on penguins around the world. Yea, the plot has a 90s children cartoon feel, and that is exactly what we got, even though being a little more straightforward could have severely benefited the entire thing.

In movies that operate in this frantic style, heart, animation, realism, and normal rules of storyframing should take a backseat. When a movie shoots and flies like a bullet, there cannot be anything holding it back. In my ultimate example, The Emperor's New Groove wentagainst the Disney grain and delivered arguably the most ChuckJones-ish movie since the Looney Tunes and obliterated every animatedrule in the book. The fourth wall was non-existent during those 90 minutes. With Penguins however, there were a few slowdown moments and although they can be vital to wholesome family fare like How to Train Your Dragon and Big Hero 6, it does hamper movies that just aim to please and become throwaway popcorn entertainment.

Luckily, there is still plenty of entertainment here, from the quick-paced one-liners to the creatively-done action sequences. I assure you, the potential was indeed here. And to top it off, plenty of penguin espionage keeping the tykes entertained. We just wish that there was more of it. For some odd reason the penguins continuously leave us asking for more, even after getting its own entire movie. It might be that the penguins work best in small doses. It could be that the Madagascar crew actually holds more quality weight than we anticipated. At the end of the day though, this movie becomes entertaining yet unmemorable. Funny yet not fully satisfying. A mission well-done, but very little reward.

King Julien and Mort really should have gone along for the ride.....