Penguins of Madagascar: Pure Madness!

"Nicholas! Cage them!"
"Drew! Barry! More power!"
"Kevin, bake on! We still need that victory cake!"

These are just some of the insane reasons why Penguins of Madagascar is such a huge hit. It's a movie that makes no excuses. It looks you in the eye and says, "We're here to have ridiculous fun and there's nothing you can flappin' do about it!" 
*cue intense side eye*

The Penguins --the best thing to ever come out of Dreamworks' 2005 Madagascar movie, other than King Julian's 'I like to move it, move it'-- are back. And this time, it's spy versus spy with an outrageous bunch of new characters who go head to head with the flightless badass birds' individual expertise.

Skipper and Classified ('That's not my name!'). Leaders.

Kowalski and Eva. Brains.

Rico and Short Fuse. Demolitionists.

Private and Corporal. Just so darn cute!

And, of course, there's Dave.
That maniacal be-tentacled antagonist with a bizarre motive and an absurd vengeance plot whom we've all come to recklessly love. John Malkovich makes it so. And this sea creature's 'I HATE CUTE!' battle cry just makes us all feel better about ourselves. Hahaha… ha… ha… eherm.

All in all, the Penguins of Madagascar seemed to have broken into some high level security facility and stole the formula for an unbelievably enjoyable family movie: Impossible gadgets, fantastic action, incredible confrontations, brilliant pacing, and hilarious upon hilarious dialogue. Cameos by King Julian and Mort are just the coolest icing on the cake, too.

So if you want to just laugh your medulla oblongata off, then this is the family quality time for you. The Penguins of Madagascar. In theatres.

Oh, and the best part? This throwback.

Awwww…. <3 <3 <3

The Bigness of Big Hero 6

Not one to shy away from death and despair, Disney returns with another movie about loss and coping… dressed up in ultra-nerd robotic warfare!

Yeah, yeah, I'm talking about Big Hero 6.

An animated action flick that boasts of tech genius in Bot Fights, nerd labs, and… you know, massive microbot attacks on the sweet city of San Fransokyo. (note: my boys want to move to San Fransokyo ASAP, by the way)

Now, if you'll only look at Big Hero 6 on the surface, you'll probably shrug and say, "Oh! So it's like the cartoon version of Kickass?"

Yes and No.

Yes, because these kids did make superheroes out of themselves, with costumes and weaponry to boot, eventually making the world a better place and all that.
No, because if you look deeper, the storyline will tug at your heartstrings BIG time.

Aaaand… SPOILER ALERT, ON!

Hiro's whole young life is riddled with losing people he loves. He's lost his parents. Then lost his big brother. And when he finally found a friend in an inflatable nurse (no, it's not what you think) named Baymax, he goes off and sacrifices himself to save Hiro, too.
When the world seems to eat at you like that, you get angry. You want revenge.
The cool thing is how Hiro's feelings are mirrored by the enemy, too. Kabuki Mask is also out on a rampage to avenge the death of his own daughter.
Ah, the irony of it all.

Ah, but I have said too much. Bottomline is that when you watch this movie, after marvelling at the awesome science behind the gadgets and gears, look beyond the lasers and smoke and see real people experiencing real emotions. And see how they cope and live again.

And if there's anyone who can tell you a thing or two about survival --whether it's from being typecast as a bad building wrecker in a video game or from being dubbed a freakish queen with freeze-inducing hands-- it's Disney.

So it you want to go big on flash and feels for this week's family movie, catch Big Hero 6.
And do hug the huge Baymax balloon man figure at the gate. You know you want to.


*Images from Hitfix.com.