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Customer Reviews of Happy Feet (Full Screen Edition)

Visually stunning musical tale for more grown-up kids
George Miller's animated film, "Happy Feet," is a visual wonder and accomplishes the same feat as Baz Luhrman's "Moulin Rouge," by deftly weaving popular songs into the plot of the movie. But please note, the title and the fact that the movie features beyond-cute penguins belie the fact that this is a more grown-up cartoon that earns its PG rating - this is not G-rated family fare for kiddies of all ages. <
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>"HF" focuses on emperor penguins, and Miller pays an obvious tribute to "March of the Penguins" in the opening scenes. Memphis (Hugh Jackman) falls in love with Norma Jean (Nicole Kidman) and they have an egg. Norma Jean then heads off for the fishing grounds, leaving Memphis with the egg through the long cold winter night - a scene that the movie creates with dazzling artistry. Tragedy nearly strikes when Memphis drops his egg for a few seconds - anyone who has seen "March" knows that a few instants can be fatal. Memphis is gravely worried that his instant of inattention has cost his family dear. <
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>But all appears well when Mumble (Elijah Wood) hatches . . . but then he starts tap-dancing. Memphis tries to help Mumble hide this odd quirk (penguins are a rigid society), but everything comes clear when Mumble proves that he absolutely cannot sing. This is a big sin in emperor penguin land, as every emperor penguin has a "heart song," and without it, you can never find a mate. Mumble can't sing, but he can dance like Savion Glover (who provides the dancing). Still, Gloria (Brittany Murphy), the best-singing penguin Mumble's age, won't have him because he can't sing, and Mumble is ostracized. <
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>What follows is a wild ramble for Mumble. He encounters dangerous leopard seals and meets new friends, some Latino penguins who aren't so hung-up on singing. Ultimately, Mumble learns that the fishing problems plaguing the penguins (the fish are mysteriously disappearing) are not blamed on the penguins' lack of devotion to their ways, but the depredations of aliens (i.e., man). So what begins as a musical romp turns into a powerful environmental message-film. <
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>And powerful it is. I first saw "HF" with my four-year old daughter in the Omnimax format, and many adults were shedding tears by the end of the movie. This is serious stuff, but I have to admit that my daughter was also riveted by the movie despite its near two-hour length. <
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>Look for more mature humor - this is more like "Shrek" than "Toy Story." <
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>All in all, "HF" is one of the best animated films to come out in recent years, and that's saying something as we are seeing more and more animated movies than ever before. It's a little dark for some kids, so you should probably watch it with your kids the first time to make sure that it's OK. But the good news is that you will enjoy Mumble's journey and probably have some explaining to do with your kids about man's siphoning of the penguin's fish. An excellent film.

Happy Feet : Why Bother?
Even though I should get right to the point, I feel compelled to share my history with this stupid and stand out mediocre movie called Happy Feet. <
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>When the first trailer appeared, I nearly fell asleep from the boredom. Three minutes of a dancing penguin seemed like HOURS in the 3-D theater. I was about to scream, "I just want to see the ocean documentary!" at the screen when the real movie actually started. Henceforth, I was prone against Happy Feet and anything having to do with it. While my classmates, even some of my closest friends were going nutso crazy over the 'adowable dwancing pengwuins' I was just trying to imagine how horrible it could be. When the movie finally came out, I turned down several invitations to go to the cinema with my friends to see hippity hoppity penguins dance for a length of time even more torterous than the commerical! <
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>Then, in April, I was on a flight to Hawaii and there were DVD screens on the backs of the seats in front of you that you could watch movies and TV shows on. I was bored, as it was a very lengthy flight, so I decided to rate Happy Feet as I watched it. <
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>I actually thought that it would be better than what it was. <
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>From each cheesy scene to the next, I groaned and wondered, "Why on Earth would any sane actor or actress attach themselves to this movie?" I still fail to see why. My first problem with it was the opening scene. <
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>The opening scene was very very...well, to put it bluntly, DUMB. Norma Jean was prancin' around and waddling in the most absurd fashion while singing in this stupid little high-pitched voice that makes her sound like she's on helium. And Memphis was like the country hick and decided one day to impersonate Elvis! What a great pair. I would describe them as Dumb and Dumber, but they are both DumbEST, so that wouldn't work. <
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>The 'cutesy' part of the film is dragged down, with only two big dance scenes, both the equivilent of what any tap student could do, only the student would be fifty times better. Even with those few dance numbers, Mumble's whole part of "being left out" doesn't even come across as a major part in the story! The tap dancing is underplayed and forgotten. They should have named the movie "Let's Stone the Aliens!" Let's see how THAT would go with moviegoers and young children. <
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>The whole 'aliens are stealing our fish!' thing is old and much to OVERplayed. Little kids, which is mainly the direct group that this movie is aimed at, won't get the whole 'global warming is bad' thing. I mean come on! <
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>One thing that I DO like in Happy Feet is the backgrounds. They're pretty good, but the animation of the characters themselves is lacking a lot. One problem is the beaks and the eyes. When any of the characters are singing, it looks like their once sturdy beaks have turned into flopping skin. Mumble always looks happy and smiling, even it's supposed to be a gut-wrenching scene. <
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>At the end of the school year, we watched Happy Feet and I groaned. I was telling two of my friends, who are twins, how bad it was, and they were saying, "It'll be better than you say it is!" Once the first scene started, one of the twins looked over at me with her mouth dropped in awe of the stupidity. They both hated the entire movie. As do I. <
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>This movie is also too scary for the target audience of 2-6 year olds. The movie reviewer on my local radio station said that children were being taken out of the theater screaming and crying when the leopard seal tries to kill Mumble. (The twins and I were cheering for the orcas to catch Mumble, but sadly...they didn't. Sniff sniff...) <
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>All in all, Happy Feet is NOT happy, and is certainly a very dull and very dumb movie that should NOT be watched. And to even IMAGINE that it could be nominated for the Academy Award...and it won! I nearly fainted! At that point, I was rooting for Cars, another film that I don't like but hey! Pixar deserves a nice trophy more than the Happy Feet creators! Compare this to the very boring movie March of the Penguins, add some cheap dance moves, and throw in one bloodthirsty leopard seal and you've got yourself a fresh Happy Feet Smoothie, ready to go. <
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>Sincerely, <
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>~Dapplewing~