Happy Feet 2

George Miller

The story: In Happy Feet (2006), tap-dancing penguin Mumble (Elijah Wood) found his mate, Gloria (popster Pink takes over from the late Brittany Murphy in the sequel). They now have a son Erik (voice actress E.G. Daily), who cannot dance. A bigger problem looms, though, when their colony is trapped by a massive shelf of ice and it is up to father and son to save the day with help from their friends.

If only this were Bill And Will’s Excellent Adventure.

The two krill are merely tiny players in the movie but they light up the screen every time they come on. Their goofy bromance is gamely played out by Brad Pitt and Matt Damon, who have worked together on films such as the Ocean’s series of heist movies.

The two actors are clearly having fun and they deliver lines such as “Goodbye krill world!” with relish.

Indeed, it is the supporting cast including Hank Azaria as The Mighty Sven, a “penguin” who can fly, and Robin Williams as the lovelorn Ramon as well as the evangelistic Lovelace, who buoy the film with their humorous characterisations.

The addition of the small krill also means that director George Miller, who had helmed the violent action film Mad Max (1979), gets to play around with perspectives here.

One moment, he would zoom in close on the shrimp-like crustacean so that one can even see the texture of the ice, and the next, he would be pulling out to show the vastness of the Antarctic landscape of snow and ice.

The rest of the film can pretty much be described as Glee for the penguin crowd.

It opens with a lavish musical number that mashes up hits including Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation and Justin Timberlake’s SexyBack, with the lyrics changed to “We’re bringing fluffy back”.

Dancing penguins and fluffy little chicks are adorable for about five seconds but the cuteness wears off when every dramatic moment is turned into an opportunity for a song-and-dance production.

A musical is a leap of faith as one does not normally expect a person to burst into song at the drop of a hat. And the suspension of disbelief required to buy into penguins doing that is just too big a jump.

Erik gets his big dramatic moment when his father’s plea for help to the elephant seals is initially rebuffed. But the ballad is delivered in a shrill chipmunkish voice that is more cringing than moving.

I wonder what Bill and Will would have made of that.

(ST)