Madagascar - just for the penguins!

I liked the film, but only because of the penguins. The part with the penguins was really fantastic. As for the rest, the lion was a bit boring and the zebra is unbearable. Gloria the hippo is nice, though.
It would be really hard to watch it till the end if it wasn't for the penguins! Every single scene with them is genius and hilarious. "I want you to look cute and cuddly, private" is absolute genius. Even when others talk about them it's funny! Like when Martin the zebra says to Alex the lion that he wants to go to the wild, leaving the zoo, and that if the penguins are going, why shouldn't he? and Alex replies "the penguins are psychotic", which is the best descriptive line of the film.
There really isn't much more to say; I don't know if I'd watch it again. I mean, the zebra was so boring and annoying, but on the other hand I could cut myself all the scenes with the penguins and rewatch just that!!

I also don't really like how they all treated Alex like he was a monster: as a lion, he's a carnivore, he needs meat, and he doesn't eat for days, poor thing. 

 A bit of plot just to be thorough:

Alex and Martin, with Melman the giraffe and Gloria, live in a zoo, happy and well cared for. Alex is the absolute star and he loves it. Martin is bored and dreams of a different life when the penguins tell him they are planning to escape and go to Antarctica, in the wild nature...

His friends are all horrified when he tells them, they think it's the worst idea , then that night Martin leaves and they worry, so they go after him. They all reach the Grand Central Station and reunite. An old lady beat Alex up, big comedy gag...

The police catch them, there's an uproar against zoos and they're shipped away, to send them back to 'where they belong': Africa.

The penguins don't agree with the destination (the two monkeys read it for them) and turn the ship... and the boxes fall off they're at sea until they land on a beach. Alex first, his box opens by itself, then he finds Melman and Gloria and Martin. Melman thinks they're in San Diego's zoo, but instead of people they find a whole lot of lemurs, grateful that Alex scared the fossa away.

Now the group understands they're in 'the wild'. 

Alex goes crazy, he's mad at Martin.

Three of them can eat seaweed and stuff, but Alex can't.

Meanwhile, the penguins managed to reach Antarctica, which is just a lot of ice, and they think it sucks.

The lemurs bring the group to enjoy Madagascar, but none of them eat meat, and after two days of not eating , Alex is starting to see them all as steaks. So he leaves.

The others also learn the many dangers of the wild.

The penguins arrive and their first mission is to save Martin who went to talk to Alex.

Instead the group saves Martin from the fossa, then Alex scares the fossa away.

The penguins introduce Alex to fish and 'the cat' loves it, so problem solved (the fish don't matter, it seems).

The group of four board the ship thinking of going back to New York now, but the ship's out of fuel.

The penguins know but haven't told them, they're basking in the sun. 

:-)