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Happy
Feet
There have been a lot of anthropomorphic animals on the
big screen these days. We've had lions trying to get to
the wild, bears trying to get back to civilization, raccoons
and turtles stealing food, and pre-historic squirrels providing
comic relief with food. But nothing can beat tap-dancing
penguins.
That's
right folks, the latest in the string of animal related
animation is probably the best CGI animated film to hit
the theaters since Finding Nemo. Happy Feet
is one of the funniest and most entertaining animated films
I've seen in a very long time, and while tap-dancing and
singing penguins may sound odd to you, believe me when I
say it works.
The
story goes something like this: in the land of the Emperor
Penguins in the Antarctic, each penguin finds its soul mate
by singing its heartsong, and finding a compatible tune
(like karaoke, only... good...).
When
Norma Jean (Nicole Kidman) finds Memphis (Hugh Jackman),
it's love, and soon they're raising little baby Mumble (E.G
Daily, Elijah Wood, and the feet of Savion Glover). Only
thing is, they discover Mumble can't sing. When he's emotional,
Mumble does a "freakiness with the feet" as Memphis
puts it, dancing his little heart out, and scaring Noah
(Hugo Weaving), the stodgy Elder of the community.
Mumble
wanders off, a bit of an outsider due to his inability to
sing, and ends up meeting the Adelie Amigos, five short
latin lover penguins, who think Mumble is "so accidentally
cool", that he joins their group, and ends up meeting
a whole cast of characters in the icy shores of Antarctica.
And in the end, Mumble will find out that being himself,
you can make everything right.
And
Happy Feet? Exceptionally right, in so many ways.
This
has a cute, simple little story that kids will empathize
with, and adults will get, too. And while it's simple, it's
still a ton of fun, as we watch incredibly real sequences
of penguins tap dancing, singing and romping around the
snow.
Visually,
this is a treat of a film. I mean, downright eye candy good.
We've all seen how adorable baby Mumble is, but when you
see this in the theaters, you just want to walk up to the
screen and pet him, he looks that life-like. And while all
of the penguins have human emotions on their faces, they
never lose that essential attitude and physicality that
makes them penguins.
And
then there's the Antarctic landscape. I'm telling you, bring
a sweater to the movie, because you're going to get cold
just watching the film. During many sequences, I had a hard
time remembering that this was all CGI, and not actually
filmed in the Antarctic. I've had a professor of mine in
college give a complete lecture and movie/slide session
on the Antarctic, and this looks just like the real thing.
Except that the penguins sing. I'm pretty sure they don't
do that in real life.
But
they do in Happy Feet, and it's just an absolute
laugh. It's pretty widely know that Hugh Jackman has been
on Broadway, singing his heart out, and Nicole Kidman did
Moulin Rouge, so she's got some vocal experience.
They manage to pull out all the stops here, not only singing,
but singing with the Southern accents that Norma Jean and
Memphis have. Britanny Murphy is incredibly good as Mumble's
crush, Gloria, the best penguin singer in the group, belting
out tunes with a skill I didn't know she had.
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The
blend of music they use is just hilarious, though the randomness
of the songs chosen for the various penguin suitors to sing
will probably only be appreciated by those of us who grew
up in the 80's. There's some really great stuff thrown into
all of the musical madness. Robin Williams once again proves
he is fantastically funny, speaking and singing, performing
"My Way" a la the Gipsy Kings. Elijah Wood...
well, Elijah sings really badly as Mumble, but he's really
good at singing badly.
Several
other vocal performances stand out, not the least of which
is Weaving as Noah the Elder. This stern (and somehow Scottish)
elder is such a grouch, Weaving must have channelled a bit
of Elrond and Agent Smith, with a touch of Sean Connery,
to make it truly hilarious.
Now,
I'm not saying that it's the perfect film. While it is wholly
entertaining, there is a problem with the flow of the film,
with parts seemingly thrown in to prove just how good the
animators were at rendering the frigid underwater landscapes.
A scene with Mumble trying to escape a leopard seal is a
prime example. While good to look at, they seem a tiny bit
irrelavent to the overall story arc of the film. There's
also a general lack of any major climax. There are critical
parts of the story, and bits that will make you gasp, and
wonder what will happen next, it's not a strong feeling.
Happy Feet doesn't have a major peak, but makes
up for it in originality and sheer amusement.
Robin
Williams described this movie as "March of the
Penguins meets Riverdance" and that's
about as true as it gets. Kids will love it for the fun
of dancing and singing penguins. Adults will love the characters
and attitudes (the Adelie Amigos are just too funny), and
it's just a beautiful thing to watch.
I have
to say it: With Happy Feet, you'll leave the theater
with a song in your heart, a smile on your face, and yes,
some really happy feet.
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