There’s
really no other word to describe "Happy Feet Two"
than adorable. And I don’t just mean the animals on display
- the various penguins and shrimp and seals who inhabit this
animated world. There’s something undeniably adorable here
about the worldview that director George Miller projects,
something utterly sweet and syrupy about these good-hearted
characters doing good-hearted things.
If you’re looking for your booster shot of heartwarming
this weekend, you won’t do much better than this sequel.
Those who missed the first "Happy Feet" chapter
in 2006 missed one of the more infectious, delirious animated
films ever made. The winner of that year’s Best Animated
Feature Oscar, "Feet" gave us the story of Mumble, a
dancing penguin who was born into a world of immaculate
singers. Always the ostracized outsider, Mumble became
separated from his community and began roaming across
Antarctica with only a few close friends - a ragtag crew that
managed to survive a couple ecological disasters.
Joyful and euphoric, Mumble asserted himself immediately as
a hero worth remembering.
In "Happy Feet Two," the story passes down yet
another generation. Mumble (Elijah Wood) and Gloria (pop star
Pink) have started a family, and while their son Erik (Ava
Acres) is still getting his bearings at the South Pole, a
crisis erupts that requires something of a penguin consensus.
If the first "Happy Feet" was about coming of age
on your own, learning individual responsibility and realizing
the dire ecological issues confronting the planet, then the
focus of this second chapter is on marshaling consensus, when
you realize that a problem is bigger than yourself.
It’s an apt theme for a movie released during a global
debt crisis. Mumble sets out to rally the penguin nations,
convincing various factions to pool their efforts when a
crisis threatens to affect the entire continent. And always at
the center of it all is the familial reminder that what
parents do today will come to define their children’s world
of tomorrow.
This is not to say that "Happy Feet Two" feels
heavy-handed in the slightest. The first film managed to
strike a meticulous balance of deeper message and delirious
hijinks. And so it is here with the sequel, as superstars
Robin Williams, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon join the cast and as
Mumble is challenged to spread his message to a wider cast of
penguin characters than ever before.
In many ways, it is a flawless creation - a family-friendly
adventure with a serious message, a star-studded cast with
ebullient voicing, and a character study of an infectious
personality who wins you over within minutes. This isn’t a
great "children’s" film, it’s just one of the
year’s best movies. Period.
Email: snyderreviews
@hotmail.com
