Musicals with animated animals have always been absolutely adorable. So when the original Happy Feet opened, there was something even more adorable when we had an unlikely animal such as the penguin singing beats ranging from the 70s to now. Throw in a likable penguin who can’t sing like the rest of the community but would rather dance and you don’t even stand a chance. Maybe this is why it beat out Pixar’s Cars. So how does the sequel stand up?
Mumble (Elijah Wood) is back with some kids of his own with his loved one Gloria (now played by P!nk due to the late Brittany Snow). This time the community has embraced dancing and tries to teach it to its younger generation. Throw in some elephant seals, some semi-likable Krill, a Puffin, a toned down Robin Williams, and another global issue and you get a seemingly rushed and scrapped together film they call Happy Feet 2. Despite all these issues, it still inspires some of the magic it once had through its spine tingling musical numbers and fantastic visuals.
Happy Feet 2’s story tries to use another political message it had in the first one as an undertone for the story’s biggest conflict. Instead of human involvement killing the fish, we have the effects of global warming threatening the lives of the inhabitants of the South Pole. It tries to aim even bigger by affecting more than just penguins. Instead of focusing of a single character’s problem, there are too many characters for us to care about a single one and there isn’t enough time in the movie to give us a chance to develop all these characters enough for us to care about them. There isn’t a penguin worth rooting for as compared to Mumble eventually getting the girl in the first one. Which leads to the other issue I had with Happy Feet 2.
Another issue I had with Happy Feet 2 is the character development. The first one was relatively straightforward focusing on one character. Happy Feet 2 forsakes focusing on Mumble and tries to pass the baton to some newer faces, including his son, a puffin confused as a flying penguin, voiced brilliantly by Hank Azaria, and a stubborn elephant seal. Worthy of mention are the two krill voiced by Brad Pitt and Matt Damon. Holding much of the comedic baggage, these two krill are worthy enough of their own movie in my opinion. However, not all these characters aren’t as well developed subsequently take away time for more development of the characters already well known characters, including Mumble, Gloria, and Robin William’s Ramon and Lovelace.
This being said, Happy Feet 2 does have some serious redeeming factors. There are moments in the first one that are difficult to beat such as the Somebody to Love and Boogie Wonderland numbers. Happy Feet 2 brings that same fire in covering things like Under Pressure and even Operas. These moments are just as spine tingling in their powerful vocals and the fact they’re sung out of mouths of adorable Penguin chicks and large elephant seals voiced by John Goodman. Also of note are the visuals. The visuals are top notch and complete a treat to see. There are many things such as moving icebergs, clumps of snow falling, and the details of certain animals that are just eye popping.
Unfortunately Happy Feet 2 was almost a chore to finish. Yes, the baby penguins are adorable and there are some new decent voice work here, but without the spine tingling medley’s, a bad story and subpar character development would’ve drowned this ice filled animation. Even though I’ve rated this movie pretty low, I will probably continue to watch the Under Pressure clip over and over again.
2.5/5 Stars
Simply Breathtaking
Banana Scoop 
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