'Happy Feet Two' Review (2011)
This is what it looks like when brilliant animation is used to make a horrible film
Photo: Warner Bros.
I loathed the first Happy Feet, though I didn't see it until a month after it won Best Animated feature, which is to say a month after anyone cared. Interestingly enough, Happy Feet Two is equally awful, but for almost entirely different reasons. Both are weak on story, though one could argue the first film is akin to a Greek epic compared to the abstract stupidity of this sequel, which is so scatter brained it's as if they dropped two different scripts and were too lazy to put the pages back in order.
The voice cast includes Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Sofia Vergara, Brad Pitt, Hank Azaria and Robin Williams. For more information on this film including pictures, trailers and a detailed synopsis choose from the following menu.
Review
"Happy Feet Two" is a Warner Bros. release, directed by George Miller and is rated PG for some rude humor and mild peril. The running time is 1 hour 45 minutes.
Centering again on the tap dancing penguin named Mumble (voiced by Elijah Wood), Happy Feet Two adds a new batch of little ones to the mix as Mumble has now partnered with Gloria (voiced by Pink, replacing the late Brittany Murphy) and they have a little one of their own, Erik who is for some reason voiced by a young girl named Ava Acres.
Problems begin when Erik embarrasses himself when he tries to dance, prompting him to runaway with two of his little friends, following in the footsteps of Ramon (voiced by Robin Williams) who's decided to return back to where he first met Mumble in the 2006 original, a place where he feels he's more appreciated. Obviously, worried about his son and the two other little penguins, Mumble begins searching only to end up finding them awe struck at what they believe to be a flying penguin named Sven (voiced by Hank Azaria). How can a father who is a flightless penguin possibly compete with the talents Sven exhibits, not to mention his promises that you can do anything you can set your mind to, even fly? It's a solid message, but of course a confused one considering the source.
Meanwhile, trouble strikes back home when a glacier breaks free and ultimately traps Mumble's clan of Emperor penguins in an ice bowl they are unable to escape. Mumble must gather all his resources if he's to save Gloria and the rest of his kind or risk losing them forever. This, as it turns out, is as deep as the story will get.
Granted, the team of four screenwriters wedge in a brief side story with an elephant seal named Bryan (voiced by Richard Carter) and a pair of rebel krill named Will and Bill voiced by Brad Pitt and Matt Damon respectively, but it all feels like filler instead of actual additions to the plot. Happy Feet Two could have played as a 20 minute animated short for as much story as it has, or two for that matter with the second focusing on the two rogue krill as they leave their swarm behind, unwilling to spend another moment as members of the lowest rung on the food chain.
It's at this point, though, that I began to wonder just why exactly this story of these two krill is even being told. Is the main story so weak we really need a second, side story to try and sell the "find your place in the world" moral of the story? And as much as I understand these are singing and dancing penguins, I'm sorry, but that aspect of the film gets really old, really quick, especially when the arbitrary solution to all of the problems faced in the film is either dancing or singing. At no point does Happy Feet Two play like a musical, so when it tries to become one it is just one more drop in the bucket of confusion.
What? The penguins are trapped? Start dancing! What? The elephant seal won't help you? Belt out an aria from Evita! It was like watching "Transformers on Ice" and instead of explosions you get dancing, all of it adding into a big ol' pile of nothing. I was at least grateful they left the metaphors to a minimum this time around, although you can't have a film about Antarctica and not include a constant global warming message.
The film is not a complete loss, however. I actually did enjoy the two krill voiced by Pitt and Damon. They were not only brilliantly animated, but they were entertaining. Forget the trapped penguins, give me a 30-minute short centered on Will and Bill and I'll be happy. It's when director George Miller throws that junky penguin story in the middle that he messes and muddles it all up to the point the krill are less entertaining and more a brief reprieve.
To the animation point I just mentioned, Happy Feet Two truly is magnificent from a visual perspective. The segments featuring the krill, whose glowing orange bodies illuminate the screen against their dark blue ocean surroundings, are quite beautiful. Above ground, the stark white landscape of Antarctica is complimented by the bright blue sky, with brief splashes of color creating an appealing visual.
Unfortunately, a film with a story as dull as this can't be fixed with pretty pictures. As much as I would never recommend anyone watch Happy Feet, I think I would be even more adamant in steering them clear of Happy Feet Two. I got little to no enjoyment out of this movie and would never sit through it again.
Links from Other Sites You May Like
Showing 9 Comments
~ PLEASE NOTE ~
If, in any way, your comment is an attack on the author of this post or a previous commenter, your comment will be deleted without question.
Add a New Comment |
Click to Read Our Commenting Rules & Guidelines
'they have a little one of their own, Erik who is for some reason voiced by a young girl named Ava Acres.'
Why the confusion? Lots of women do voices for male characters like Nancy Cartwright doing Bart Simpsons' voice.
you watched Twilight and Happy Feet, both movies worthy of a D-range grade. You continue watching bad movies you're going to be placed on suicide watch. :)
Yeah, I don't know. I liked the first one a lot. I thought it was better than most of Pixar's movies which seem to use the same formula (X goes missing, friends/family of X goes to search for them). It seems to me that anything CGI not by Pixar is automatically look down on.
And this is made by Dr George Miller. One of the few directors I know who hasn't made a bad film in his life. It's a crime that hacks like Joss Whedon and Joe Johnston can get handed large budget movies while Miller has movies taken away from him.
I can agree with you on Joe Johnson, but Joss Whedon I think is pretty good. I hate Stephen Sommers though. He really screwed up G. I. Joe. By the way, what did you think of Serenity? Whedon directed that and it was pretty good IMO.
Yeah I liked Serenity. It was a fun movie that enjoyed more the second time when I wasn't watching it under the assumption that Whedon the greatest thing ever as his fans made him out to be.
But it still doesn't make sense to me that he can be given multimillion dollar budget while Miller either gets movies taken away from him like with Contact, or the studio decides they aren't confident in his abilities as a director and refuse to produce his movie like with Justice League.
i'm hoping the success of Happy Feet 2 will grant him some power and influence.
Yeah I can definitley understand what you're trying to say. I feel that way sometimes too, especially with Mathew Vaughn. He's done one big film and that was X-Man: First Class. And the ridiculous part was that it was the lowest grossing X- Men movie even though audiences and critics said it was possibly the best out of the 5 films. That happened with Kick-Ass too, which deserves a sequel for sure but because many people didn't see it, it's not going to get one.
Did White-Out have a global warming message? I can't remember. That film was so bad I practically zoned it out of my mind.
I think people are being way too harsh on this movie. Some critics refused to look deeper because this is not your usual type of kiddie animation film. I am actually shocked at reading some of the scathing reviews. Also, I think people are being too hypercritical because the first Happy Feet won the Oscar. I loved this movie. I found it far superior to Rango, Gnomeo & Juliet, and Cars 2. The animation was amazing. I think it has the best production values and cinematography of any animated film of 2011, I have seen so far. It has wonderful music. The story is in-depth, layered, complex, and much more meaningful than the first Happy Feet. Mumble and Erik are great characters. The voice acting was incredible. Pitt and Damon were standouts. There are important themes and messages about community, teamwork, bravery, overcoming obstacles, environmentalism, and how all walks of life connect to teach other. The movie was ambitious, it has a few flaws in that the plotline can be tedious and the dialogue could have been better, but the overall effect was great. I laughed, cried, and felt such empathy for these penguins. This movie has a lot of soul and heart. Erik, Atticus, and Bo are just adorable. There were so many twists and turns. The movie avoids some standard cliches. I just felt the amount of effort and hard work the entire cast and crew put into this movie. It is shame it has bombed at the box office and some critics are being too cold to it.
To Rango…really. I understand why this is better than the other ones but Rango is way smarter and better than this.