Happy Feet 2

Happy Feet Two has all the allegorical animation requirements in one amusing story about a little penguin's growth to self-knowledge and courage, a family that fights for each other, and an entire village of empire penguins determined to survive in the face of a daunting environmental catastrophe.

And don't forget the dancing penguin routines, now a part of our cultural memory because who would have ever thought such a conceit would work? In the case of this film, the dancing is central to the survival of the colony, all of which is just metaphor for having imagination and invincible spirit to overcome the odds.

The chances for Happy Feet Two being sappy and repetitive were significant, but its ebullient spirit, gifted voices like Robin Williams,' and a creative plot make the penguins an unlikely symbol of intrepid imagination. Anyway, when I hid in a trench in New Zealand to see the little lovelies trundle home as they always do at the same time each day, I was hooked to see an animation renewing our cultural romance with penguins and the beast fable itself.

It is very difficult to make an entertaining movie that has a lesson in the consequences of climate change on the Antarctic wildlife, just as it is always hard to live up to the original when you're a sequel. This sequel made the lesson entertaining but the film did not live up to the original. I really enjoyed the original and watched it many times over, I'm not so sure I would do the same with Two. The lesson in Happy Feet was clear cut and the scandalous humans did try to resolve the atrocity of depleting the penguins food source, but in Happy Feet Two nothing was really clear except that the polar icecaps are melting and now the Emperor penguins fully accept song and dance. Mumble (Elijah Wood) and Gloria (P!nk) now have had an egg of their own, and are now parents to Erik (Ava Acres). Mumble is challenged to be a good father and Erik is on a path of self discovery. The role of Gloria is filled nicely, her singing prowess made the opening Rhythm Nation production amazing, it was actually the most outstanding compilation in the entire film and would have been more fitting as the grand finale song. I unlike Catt was not thrilled by the krill, I have yet to figure out what the krill was the point of the krill storyline with Bill the Krill (Matt Damon) and Will the Krill (Brad Pitt) other than to add some big names to the film since Norma Jean (Nicole Kidman) and Memphis (Hugh Jackman) did not reprise their roles. I really liked what was happening with Ramon (Robin Williams) in this story, with the whole hatin' on The Mighty Sven (Hank Azaria) while pursuing Carmen (Sofia Vergara), the chase could have been expanded in place of the krill story filler. The movie just seemed to have a number of encounters loosely strung together with no outstanding purpose of it all, unlike the original with the fact that different can be the one thing that saves everybody. Maybe the message of this film was if humans venture to aid the wildlife and we don't succeed, they'll figure out a resolution to their problem themselves. Or when everyone works together to deal with a problem no matter how big or how small you are you can overcome any obstacle. Or maybe I just didn't get the point, which is why this film gets an amber light.

I was really looking forward to seeing this film and it did not disappoint. Although Happy Feet Two was not as good as its Oscar-winning predecessor, there were still plenty of toe-tapping moments. I liked the fact that the songs were recognizable. I am sure that L. L. Cool J is just tickled pink that they included his "Mama Said Knock You Out". In this film Mumble (Elijah Wood) is all grown up and learning how to be a better father to his son Erik (Ava Acres). Erik was just the cutest little thing and he pulls at your heart-strings right from the beginning. The main story line was a good one, but I think that I found the story between Bill the Krill (Matt Damon) and Will the Krill (Brad Pitt) even more entertaining. Those two had their own thing happening. I liked the way that the writer (George Miller) had two stories going on at the same time and the fact that they blended together in the end was excellent. I think that you have to have a lot going on to keep the attention of kids these days. I did not see this film in 3D, but you could tell by some of the scenes that the price of a 3D ticket might have been worth it for this film. The animation in this film was simply stunning. Animation has come a long way since Casper the Friendly ghost (I'm dating myself, huh?) Anyway, it was great. It was also refreshing to see the development of numerous female characters in this film such as Gloria (Pink) and Carmen (Sofia Vergara). I have to give props to the ladies. Robin William's character, Ramon had me cracking up throughout the film. It is not surprising that Robin really knows how to make his characters stand out since he has done numerous voice projects in the past (Genie in the Aladdin films, Dr. Know in A.I. and Fender in Robots). This film contains numerous life-lessons that I think that the target audience will understand (one person can make a difference, keep your promises, don't run away from home, etc.). If you enjoyed the first Happy Feet, then you will also enjoy this one (just not as much). Anyway, I say put on your dancing shoes, shake a tail feather and go out and see this film. I am giving this film a green light.

Happy Feet is definitely one of those films that doesn't need a sequel but it has a purpose to give us an environmental message and that message became the main plot of this film. But for some reason, it's unnecessary. Extraneous characters like the Krills. There's nothing much to do with this. Just a lot of unnecessary things scattered throughout. The visuals are largely stunning and still has its powerful tone but even with those things, it still falls short.

The first Happy Feet movie sets with a powerful tone and an absurd but interesting premise. That was acceptable as a penguin movie. Happy Feet 2 has its similarity with the first one by the father-son relationship. The rest is all about the crisis of the climate change but unnecessary things are happening especially with the two Krills, Will and Bill. They appear like Scrat from the Ice Age series. They are funny though but again, unnecessary.

The film itself is also unnecessary. The problem of Mumble's tap dancing was already solved. They lived happily ever after in Antarctica since the "aliens" moderated their fishing. The climate change is a really good idea. But after the movie, it feels like it's just another sequel. Well, the movie never fails to its cast. Elijah Wood and Robin Williams did the same thing in the first movie but still good in this sequel. The newbies, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon are both fun even though they are playing the most extraneous characters of the film. Pink and Common are good replacements. What happened to Fat Joe? And the last but never the least is Hank Azaria who nearly steals the show.

The movie gives some nostalgia and powerful tone from the first movie but it doesn't help at all but the visuals are really stunningly beautiful. Keeps the film large and worth it to the cinema and 3D. Realistic textures to make it look like it's Animal Planet but the elephant seals looks cartoony in some part but it's still good to look at. The songs are decent.

There are only two reasons why this exists. Environmental Propaganda and money. It's the 21st Century of Hollywood and they are somewhat running out of ideas. With all of their technology and talented filmmakers, they can make as many unnecessary sequels as they want. The Environmental Message is stuck in the plot but there is nothing wrong with that. Happy Feet 2 is not a bad movie. It's just unnecessary.

Happy Feet 1 was... SUCH an emotional ride. Had so much heart and an amazing message. It didn't need a sequel.

I've never been able to finish this film.. I've tried over and over again throughout the years and I always just get bored.. it does absolutely nothing as a film. The only point in it was clearly to ride off the popularity of the first one for ticket sales..

This would be like if they tried to make a sequel to Citizen Kane.. everything was said in the first one and anything that appears in the sequel is pointless..