Mr. Poppers Penguins (No-Spoilers)

Mr. Poppers Penguins (No-Spoilers)

                Popper’s penguins is a little bit flat. Jim Carrey is back to comedy but the laughs in this film are trumped by the flightless birds. Don’t get me wrong; it is nice to see Carrey back to comedy but the storyline should have just stuck to the children’s books. There was a time when Jim Carrey was Ace Ventura and maybe were all use to that kind of comedy instead of this family friendly type of movie he’s now been placed in.

                Here’s the plot: Adventure-loving house painter Mr. Popper (Jim Carrey) contends with the problem of having too many penguins in director Mark S. Waters' adaptation of author Richard Atwater's beloved children's book. Shortly after penning a letter to a team of Arctic explorers, Mr. Popper is surprised to receive a penguin in the mail. Later, after making his mischievous new pal a cozy new home in the freezer, the hapless Mr. Popper comes into possession of a playful female penguin as well. Before long Mr. Popper finds himself surrounded by a growing family of the flightless birds, and begins training them to perform in a traveling show dubbed Popper's Performing Penguins. With each new town the show travels to, pandemonium is quick to follow.

                If anything, the penguins steal the show at moments. But really this movie is suppose to appeal to kids but when we took three 5 year old boys and a 9 year old girl; they all for the  majority seemed bored at times. The only time they seemed entertained was when the penguins were getting into trouble; which at times didn’t seem much at all. But in all honesty; it’s not like Jim Carrey mailed his performance in because it actually seemed like he tried hard on this film. Sometimes the story and rhythm of a film kind of trump anything else a movie has going for it. This is not the first time Jim Carrey has played a dad trying to be a better dad (Liar, Liar) but at times it seemed like the movie tried too hard to  appeal to the new generation with all the BFF comments and other winks to teenage girl cell phone users that came off forced. I’ve honestly seen a lot worse but for a summer comedy from Jim Carrey; this one came up short. I would wait to see this on DVD with the family if there’s nothing else to do.

1.5 out of 4 stars.