Part porno, part snuff film, MARCH OF THE PENGUINS is one of the highest-grossing documentaries in motion-picture history, but I’m going to slay a sacred cow and call it highly overrated. Take away the Morgan Freeman narration and you have your everyday National Geographic special that you wouldn’t watch for free on Discovery Channel.

Here’s the story: Penguins march through treacherous conditions to a central point annually to pick a mate. Love is made, eggs are produced, babies born, some die. Repeat.

Don’t get me wrong: PENGUINS is not a bad movie, but it’s nothing special. The photography is spectacular, sure, but overall it simply smacks of being overrated. There were far more compelling stories in other 2005 documentaries, all dealing with issues that actually affect you and I. I think the main reason people went nuts for this movie is because penguins are cute. If the movie were MARCH OF THE WOLVERINES and everything else remained the same, no one would be interested. Go ahead and call me a cold-hearted bastard if you’d like; I’ve been called far worse.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 6th, 2006 at 10:16 am and is filed under DVD Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.