Monday, June 20, 2011

Review: Mr. Popper's Penguins

Grade: B

Thomas Popper is great at his job and his job is buying real estate for a firm in New York City. His bosses have a challenge for him that if he completes it, they will make him a partner at the company. Mr. Popper needs to convince the owner of a building in the middle of central park to sell the property to his company. However, Mr. Popper’s life is thrown upside down when he receives a package from his distant father shortly after his death. In the package are six penguins that begin to take over his apartment. At first he tries to find a way to get rid of them but when the penguins begin to act as a way for him to reconnect with his kids who don’t seem to like him too much, Mr. Popper begins to turn his place into an arctic wonderland so the penguins can stay there comfortably. This, of course, begins to cause conflict with his work but allows him to reconnect with his ex-wife as well.

Mr. Popper’s Penguins was a great children’s book that they managed to turn into a very fun kid’s movie. This movie is very kid friendly and does tend to follow many clichés of kids movie i.e. distant father, crazy thing allows him to reconnect with his kids, risks his job for crazy thing etc… However, it still manages to be a lot of fun to watch. The jokes are great and constant and managed to keep me laughing through most of the movie. There are many great gags like the fact they keep the alliteration of the title going throughout the movie via the character of Pippi, Mr. Popper’s assistant. She says as many p words as possible throughout the movie and it is actually pretty consistently funny. The penguins themselves are very entertaining and all have funny little characteristics separating themselves from each other.

Jim Carrey (I Love You, Phillip Morris, Yes Man) plays the titular character of Mr. Popper. I have always been a big fan of Jim Carrey and he is the main reason I was looking forward to this movie. He was great in it and was just as funny as he always is. He really kept me laughing through the whole movie, he managed to be Jim Carrey and also be a very kid friendly character, just great and very enjoyable. Carla Gugino (Sucker Punch, Race to Witch Mountain) plays the role of Amanda, Mr. Popper’s ex-wife. She was pretty enjoyable as well in the movie and made it pretty enjoyable. The movie also features Angela Lansbury, Ophelia Lovibond, Clark Gregg, David Krumholtz, Phillip Baker Hall and more.

Mr. Popper’s Penguin’s is a great kid’s movie that the adults can enjoy as well. So if you’ve got kids or are just looking for a light hearted comedy, I would recommend checking out this movie. It can easily be enjoyed by people of all ages.

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