I laughed my butt off!

Rating: 9/10 (10 November 2008)

I took my kids to see this movie on opening weekend. I swear, I can't remember laughing at a movie so hard in a long, long time. The first 30 minutes is hilarious. The penguins are hysterical! ("That's gotta be the second largest slingshot I've ever seen.") Sure, my kids laughed because of the talking lion and hippo and zebra and the slapstick comedy. But the mature themed humor was even funnier. ("Stop him! He has scissors and hand cream.") The mom two rows ahead of me laughed so hard, she nearly puked! The rest of the movie was just so-so. It kinda seemed like a cheap take-off on "The Lion King for a while. But it still had it's funny moments. Alex's "rite of passage" contest was comical. But I didn't think the New Yorkers were all that necessary, but (I don't want to give anything away.) If I could rate the movie into sections, I'd do it like this. Alex, Marty, Melman and Gloria (the 4 main characters) story: 8/10. Penguins: 10/10. New Yorkers: 5/10. For Kids: 10/10. For parents: 8/10.