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March of the Penguins
Metascore
79 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 39 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 35 out of 39
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 39
  3. Negative: 0 out of 39
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  1. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: G. Allen Johnson
    100
    An astonishing documentary.
  2. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Michael Sragow
    100
    The movie pays tribute to sexual equality and to each gender's agility and strength of character.
  3. The New Yorker
    Reviewed by: David Denby
    100
    A perfect family movie, a perfect date movie, and one of the most eye-ravishing documentaries ever made.
  4. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Shawn Levy
    91
    The film that results from Jacquet's application is gorgeous and even inspiring, a tale of loyalty hard-tested and hard-earned, a sumptuous travelogue, and a reminder that some of the critters with whom we share the planet are, in ways, as complex in their feelings as any human being.
  5. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Stephanie Zacharek
    90
    There's more drama, and more heartbreak, in March of the Penguins than in most movies that are actually scripted to tug at our feelings.
  6. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Ella Taylor
    90
    Thrilling documentary.
  7. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Nathan Rabin
    90
    The glacially beautiful new documentary March Of The Penguins confirms that no computer-animated or hand-drawn penguin could ever match the curious majesty of the genuine article.
  8. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Crust
    90
    As uplifting as anything you will find in theaters.
  9. Newsweek
    Reviewed by: David Ansen
    90
    Jacquet's movie is as visually ravishing as "Winged Migration," and more gripping.
  10. Slate
    Reviewed by: David Edelstein
    90
    Remarkable.
  11. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marrit Ingman
    89
    Jacquet's penguins are as absorbing and incredible as any man-made phantasmagoria you'll find in the multiplex this summer, and it's all real.
  12. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    88
    It's poignant to watch the chicks in their youth, fed by their parents, playing with their chums, the sun climbing higher every day, little suspecting what they're in for.
  13. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    88
    A remarkable, eye-popping nature documentary.
  14. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    88
    A cinematic experience that is dazzlingly different from anything currently in theaters, March of the Penguins captivates with its straightforward but powerful story of dogged determination, survival against harsh odds and sacrifice.
  15. Charlotte Observer
    Reviewed by: Lawrence Toppman
    88
    The best action movie of the month contains chase scenes, fights, a love story, exotic locations - well, one exotic locale, snow-blasted Antarctica - and a battle for survival against long odds amid brutal conditions.
  16. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    83
    Luc Jacquet's exquisitely shot eye-of-God study of a year in the lives of these distinctive birds is a nature film built with a feel for the epic and a love of operatic narrative.
  17. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Kirk Honeycutt
    80
    A nature documentary that captures the ferocity and heroism of nature.
  18. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Jeremy Mathews
    80
    The film goes beyond a nature movie with excellent photography and the determination of the animals it documents.
  19. Dallas Observer
    Reviewed by: Melissa Levine
    80
    Astonishing if imperfect nature documentary.
  20. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Stephen Holden
    80
    This sentimental but riveting film has no qualms about playing on our emotions.
  21. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Joe Morgenstern
    80
    Watch them march to the very extremes of extremis, though, and it's easy to feel awe.
    All this critic's reviews
  22. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    80
    A delightful, wholesome experience for the family.
  23. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Ann Hornaday
    80
    It doesn't take a screenwriter, for example, to point out the uncanny fact that, when two parent penguins perform a neck-curving pas de deux above their tiny chick, they resemble nothing so much as a perfect heart.
  24. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    75
    Michael Moore might want to look into this before more animal docs steal his thunder.
  25. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Allison Benedikt
    75
    Mostly it's an incredible tale of ritual and perseverance.
  26. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Rene Rodriguez
    75
    Concise and intriguing.
  27. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jami Bernard
    75
    When it comes to cute, this baby is off the charts.
  28. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    75
    Touching and brisk.
  29. Premiere
    Reviewed by: Peter Debruge
    75
    If anything, it's the degree to which the animals differ from us that makes March of the Penguins so fascinating.
  30. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Paula Nechak
    75
    The director's tenacity has resulted in a breathtaking as well as heartbreaking adventure of life and death.
  31. Time
    Reviewed by: Richard Schickel
    70
    It's a gentle film about somewhat alien beings, who entertain us by creating instead of destroying.
  32. Variety
    Reviewed by: Joe Leydon
    70
    Sometimes harrowing, sometimes hokey, sometimes heartwarming nature documentary.
  33. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: J.R. Jones
    70
    Some of the eggs fail to hatch and some of the chicks die, and the parents' cries are painful to hear, though what they're really crying for is the future of their species.
  34. ReelViews
    Reviewed by: James Berardinelli
    63
    Does what all good National Geographic documentaries do: it informs and entertains while providing interesting wildlife footage. Unfortunately, it's not cinematic.
  35. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Liam Lacey
    63
    Parents of young children should be warned: Here's a family-values film that won't be much fun for the whole family.
  36. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Maitland McDonagh
    60
    The penguins' matter-of-fact victory over some of the Earth's most punishing conditions is astonishing enough without the epic airs.
  37. Empire
    Reviewed by: Helen O'Hara
    60
    It's a missed opportunity to make a great documentary, but still decent family entertainment, with awe-inspiring Antarctic scenery and some very cute stars.
  38. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    50
    As a zoological spectacle the movie is riveting. But the narration tries to make us think of these adorable animals as if they saw the world in human terms.
  39. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Michael Atkinson
    50
    The Central Park Zoo is cheaper, you can walk away from the penguins after 10 minutes, and it has snow monkeys and beer.
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User Reviews

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User Score
8.2 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 101 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 57 out of 66
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 66
  3. Negative: 3 out of 66
  1. CooterPatooter
    8
    Actually makes nature's lamest animal seem interesting.
  2. smijatov
    5
    Maybe if I were a nature-fan, or a bird-fan, or more preferably, a penguin-fan, I would have enjoyed this film. The way things are, I just did not find it all that amazing. Ok. I was just ok. All white all the time. And the little penguins. They're cute. And all. And it's Morgan Freeman. We get it. Ah. Maybe it's Freeman, we've had too much of him narrating lately. Either way, it just did not do anything for me. It was alright, but I felt bored by the film since, well, I do not care about the poor penguins. There have been way better documentaries than this - thank god!… Full Review »
  3. jimmytancredi
    8
    Nature is perfection and when you believe everything you see, some emperor penguins come and completely change my perception and feelings. It's a splendid story, incorrectly judged with Animal Planet's episode, which presents the cycle of survival of those species in the most inhospitable place in the world. Threatened by hunger, cold and predators (leopard seals and gulls), the monogamous penguins must preserve the ancient cycle of the species, as reflected in the birth of new offspring and the search for food. It is a piece of art, proving that a story can make a difference (the voice of Morgan Freeman) or curious fiction concepts that mingle easily in the documentary (in case the French dubbing with human voices voicing penguins).… Full Review »
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