Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011)

All Critics (140) | Top Critics (35) | Fresh (67) | Rotten (74) | DVD (3)

Holy mother of pearl, talk about superficial claptrap!

August 3, 2011 Full Review

Derek Adams

Time Out

Top Critic

The director, Mark Waters, moves things briskly along and lets the charming absurdity of penguin behavior rise to its inherently good-natured heights.

June 27, 2011 Full Review

Bruce Diones

New Yorker

Top Critic

The good news is that, even though one must pace oneself through the dull parts, usually involving Mr. Popper's dullish family, [Carrey's] in pretty good form whenever he's getting physical

June 22, 2011 Full Review

Peter Rainer

Christian Science Monitor

Top Critic

Such a brazenly moronic and uninspired example of a family movie that you'd swear it was a parody of brazenly moronic and uninspired family movies.

June 17, 2011 Full Review

Eric D. Snider

Film.com

Top Critic

Why is Jim Carrey standing around watching penguins be funny? Why isn't he in a movie where Jim Carrey is funny?

June 17, 2011 Full Review | Comments (9)

Tom Long

Detroit News

Top Critic

It's an old-fashioned movie, gentling its way toward satisfying familial reunion, fueled by almost always endearing penguin antics.

June 17, 2011 Full Review

Kathleen Murphy

MSN Movies

Top Critic

Kid-friendly, if not exactly potty-trained.

January 4, 2013 Full Review

Roger Moore

McClatchy-Tribune News Service

Popper is just a pooper.

May 12, 2012 Full Review

Austin Kennedy

Sin Magazine

One of Jim Carrey's weakest efforts gets admittedly attentive Blu-ray treatment.

January 4, 2012 Full Review

Chuck Bowen

Slant Magazine

In a desert of "family films," it stands out as a surprising oasis.

December 29, 2011 Full Review

James Plath

Movie Metropolis

grown-ups will quickly become annoyed with the squawking, the poorly conceived penguin names and the copious amount of penguin poop

December 20, 2011 Full Review

Kevin Carr

7M Pictures

Look out for perky Brit Ophelia Lovibond, who provides a perfectly pleasing performance as Popper's alliteration-prone assistant, Pippi, who peppers her pronouncements with a profusion of p's.

December 20, 2011 Full Review

Jason Best

Movie Talk

familiarity only adds to the feeling that this is just another Carrey movie

September 1, 2011 Full Review

James Luxford

The National

Director Waters, who knows his way around young adult fare having directed such films as the 2003 version of "Freaky Friday" and "The Spiderwick Chronicles," again shows a keen eye for finding humor in everyday life

August 16, 2011 Full Review

Michael A. Smith

MediaMikes

Hollywood might be trying to tell us that the answer to a midlife crisis is pets, not Prozac, but those behind the camera could certainly do with a little something to perk them up a bit.

August 16, 2011 Full Review

Andrew Simpson

Fan The Fire

Vanilla Ice over the closing credits? Pretty much perfect.

August 15, 2011 Full Review

Mike McCahill

Scotsman

The laughter is intermittent and is ultimately overwhelmed by a wave of sentimentality.

August 7, 2011 Full Review

Philip French

Observer [UK]

Much of the plotting is perfunctory but the slap-stick is fun and Carrey, toning down his usually mugging, shrewdly lets the penguins steal the show.

August 5, 2011 Full Review

Henry Fitzherbert

Daily Express

Sadly, this is a one-joke film which Carrey cannot keep afloat...

August 5, 2011 Full Review

Graham Young

Birmingham Mail

A saccharine family-oriented comedy, which hammers home the central message about parental responsibility and love triumphing over adversity with all the tenderness of a nasty case of frostbite.

August 5, 2011 Full Review

Catherine Jones

Liverpool Echo

It's not an awful film but, in the end, it's nothing much at all.

August 5, 2011 Full Review

Derek Malcolm

This is London

Carrey can single-handedly kill a good comedy with his OTT shtick, but this time he reins it in and the film is all the better for it.

August 4, 2011 Full Review | Comment (1)

David Edwards

Daily Mirror [UK]

This is Jim at his most Carrey-esque, back in Ace Ventura territory.

August 4, 2011 Full Review

Alex Zane

Sun Online

Remember Adam Sandler in Click? Robin Williams in Hook? Eddie Murphy in The Haunted Mansion? Then congratulations, you've already seen this movie.

August 4, 2011 Full Review

Christopher Tookey

Daily Mail [UK]

Jim Carrey's latest is a perfectly pleasant if predictable picture about a part-time pop who learns his priorites after receiving a package of penguins.

August 4, 2011 Full Review | Comment (1)

Amber Wilkinson

Eye for Film

• 1. Animal Control Guy: Yeah, I only pick up the dead ones.
  – Submitted by Matthew R (5 months ago)
• 1. Mr. Popper: Dear Lord, thank you for the food we are about to eat. Please use your mighty power, to stop the melting of the polar ice caps. Amen.
  – Submitted by Angela T (13 months ago)
• 1. Fishmonger: Yipes! Penguins!
  – Submitted by David A (15 months ago)
• 1. Mr. Popper: Hello! I have to send the penguins back.
  2. Voice of Antarctic Friend: Send-da-penguin?
  3. Mr. Popper: Yes, send penguins.
  – Submitted by Nick S (16 months ago)
• 1. Mr. Popper: That's not cute.
  – Submitted by Ben R (22 months ago)
• 1. Mr. Popper: Why are you hitting yourself? That's not attractive for a zoo official.
  – Submitted by Fern S (23 months ago)

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