Happy Feet Review

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Average rating for this product is: 3.4 out of 5

From 2 ratings and 2 reviews

100% of users recommend this product

Hank's Review of Happy Feet

19th Dec 2006

Overall Rating

Value for money
Where Did You See It?
Cinema

Starring Actor/Actress
Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Nicole Kidman

Good Points

At time enjoyable but expected more
CGI great
Robin Williams funny
Good songs

Bad Points

Not a classic story
Not funny enough
It ain't no Shrek or even Shark Tale

General Comments

As a rule of thumb I try to avoid animated films, however there are a few exceptions to this such as Shrek 2 and Shark Tale. Sadly Happy Feet isn't as good as either of these, with the problem being it's just not funny enough coupled with the films bizarre twist towards the end.

The plot ain't rocket science, we see the penguins during the season where the eggs hatch and then our hero, Mumbles is born. His dad dropped the egg during the hatching process and sadly poor Mumbles is a little different to the other penguins. He has a funny walking technique and is incapable of singing - all the penguins can sing except him.

Thanks to this he becomes an outcast following a fall out with the other penguins and finds himself alone and in danger. He befriends a different breed of smaller penguin who instantly like his unorthodox ways and teach him how to dance.

A happy Mumbles returns to his clan and wins over all the younger penguins with his slick dance routines - including the heart of unrequainted love Gloria. However the Penguin elders are furious and blame the recent fish drought on Mumbles and his new found ways. While on his adventures, Mumbles had become convinced that aliens (humans) had become responsible for the drought. After being kicked out of the clan again he heads out to the big wide world to prove the elders wrong.

It's in the final 15 minutes that the movie takes a strange twist - by changing the setting and getting all eco-political on the audience - something that will go over the heads of the kids - the films target audience.

Despite stellar CGI and cute penguins, this story doesn't really have the characters to win you over. Maybe the kids will love it but there were few jokes for the adults which was a shame - I would narrowly recommend this but it ain't no Shrek or even Shark Tale.