Mr. Popper’s Penguins (Kid & Mom Movie Review)

Once me and mom were watching MR. POPPERS PENGUINS without Jake and Mav and Dad (they were seeing Green Lantern), some parts were really funny.

Mr. Popper tried to teach the penguins to do step ball change with WORD in it. I like it because that is so funny.

It was also funny when Mr. Popper slid a penguin named Captain down the hall.

Another funny part was when all of the penguins slid across a museum floor. (Note from the editor, aka Mom: the museum was the Guggenheim and I was in tears laughing during this scene.)

It was really funny when Mr. Popper said WAIT in slow motion. (All of that was at the end.)

In the beginning, Mr. Popper needed a new crate for Captain so he called for one.  But that was a bad idea because 5 more penguins walked out of the new crate.

Penguins are smarter then you think. I would like to have penguins. They are my second favorite animal.

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ROBIN’S TURN:

When I first heard about this movie I wrote an angry blog post titled “Mr. Popper’s Penguins: Another Childhood Classic RUINED” where I groan and moan about Jim Carrey taking another one of my favorite stories and turning it into a slapstick nightmare.

I’m standing by my original assessment that this movie bears no resemblance to the wonderfully endearing book with the same title, other than there being a man named Popper in possession of some precocious penguins. (Say that 10 times fast.) I also predicted that this movie might be more accurately titled, “Liar Liar… Now with Penguins!” (Not in so many words, but that general sentiment.) That is also true: the jerk businessman is humbled by ridiculous circumstance and his family learns to love him again. We’ve seen that movie before.

All that being said… as a movie, with no outside baggage or bias?

Mr. Popper’s Penguins is a genuinely heartwarming and hilarious film and I enjoyed it very much.

If anything, Jim Carrey is the weakest link (the penguins and kids stealing the show); there were a few scenes when I wished he would just settle down and stop being so Jim Carrey. But he never hits the same notes of full-on obnoxious that I saw in How the Grinch Stole Christmas (or, gah, the Ace Ventura or Dumb and Dumber movies my husband enjoys so much). This is a kinder, gentler Jim Carrey, like the one I liked so much in The Truman Show.

So there. I’m eating crow about Popper’s Penguins. I recommend it. Go see it. It’s great for kids and parents alike.

But for the love of penguins, read the book first. Deal?