Penguins of Madagascar

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Michael

This film opens with animated Werner Herzog, playing himself, narrating a documentary about penguins. And performing some questionable acts to make it more compelling. Hilarious.

This one feels like a cash grab, and I always worry about when the comedic side characters that are funny in small amounts are thrust front and centre in sequels and spin-offs. It rarely works. But I was never particularly enamoured with these guys anyway and the writing here is consistently funny enough that it doesn't feel like the entire film is an afterthought.

The new characters here don't make much of an impact. Dave the Octopus has a bizarre running gag involving puns of famous actors names that kids probably won't get but adults might like. Or find confusing. His rubbery animation is pretty funny though.

The North Wind doesn't really have as much to do though, save for being the straight guys for the comedy.

Unfortunately didn't get to see the film in 3D, despite being advertised as a 3D screening and receiving silly penguin glasses. Don't know what happened there but apart from that, technically it's pretty shmick.

The end really felt like business as usual though. It wasn't particularly memorable. But overall, there's some good laughs here so you could do worse.