Happy Feet film review

certificate_PG

HAPPY FEET

Last year's Oscar winning documentary March of the Penguins officially made penguins hot in Hollywood. If the birds had been smart, they'd have banded together and got themselves an agent. But then, if they'd been smart, they wouldn't be living in the South Pole. So, as a consequence, penguins are ripe for exploitation. Which is why they are the subject of several projects including the disappointing Happy Feet.

Penguins may well be cute to look at, but unless they're doing something interesting, cute can wear thin pretty quickly. And in the animated Happy Feet, singing and dancing penguins aren't interesting enough. Granted, the idea of thousands of Emperor Penguins joining in an operatic rendition of Prince's Kiss sounds amusing but, under the direction of George Miller (Babe: Pig In The City), Happy Feet's more lofty aspirations imbue proceedings with a remarkably sobering tone for a little kids movie. Indeed, with its indictment of man's destructive impact on the world, and on the penguins' environment in particular, Happy Feet is more a morality tale than a frivolous comedy. Were it not for the inclusion of the manic Robin Williams' scatological wit, the film would be in danger of being rather dour.

The richly vibrant computer animation is the film's strongest feature. Sumptuous to look at, the Antarctic has never appeared so inviting. Happy Feet's detailed style is at times hyper realistic which makes the occasional blending of live action almost seamless and highly effective. But it's also the adherence to realism in its dealings with political and environmental issues that bog things down. Added to which are plenty of scary and sad moments, which leave all too little time for humour.

There appears some confusion also about the focus of the story. It begins with the hatching of the impossibly cute little Mumble (Elijah Wood) who is born into a colony of Emperor Penguins who pride themselves on their singing. His father is the Elvis impersonating Memphis (Hugh Jackman) while his mum is the breathy-voiced Marilyn Monroe-like Norma Jean (Nicole Kidman). Unfortunately Mumble has the singing voice of a strangled cat, much to the disappointment of his parents and the shame of the other penguins, who ostracize him.