Typical Miller, a worthy addition to his oeuvre

Rating: 9/10 (30 November 2006)

I remember when I saw Babe: Pig in the City I rather liked the movie. This is a children's film unafraid to show death and bad things happening to innocents, a bit like what Sesame Street did when Mr. Hooper died. That's the real world. We might want to delay that realization for our children's sake, but where do we really want to raise them? In unrealistic fantasy lands that ignore the fact everyone dies or gets hurt? So Happy Feet gets the same abuse from parents for intense films. Hurrah for Miller! He certainly doesn't go extremely explicit the way a documentary would (the penguin is caught by a Leopard Seal and ripped apart and devoured while it's still struggling to live) but he doesn't shy away from the idea Leopard Seals and Killer Whales are predators and they are out to kill (and eat) their prey.
That's why I was recommending this film to the science teachers. There are clearly fantasy elements (dancing, singing, conversing penguins) but they do get their details right. The seal is king underwater but he becomes helpless on land. The penguin is fast, though not as fast as the seal underwater, but he has a special ability to swim fast AND walk on land, unlike most of his predators. I like the harshness of the environment as portrayed and I especially like how the penguins interact in it. It's a bad neighborhood, but it's their home.
The ending goes beyond what you'd expect from where the movie started. It reminds me of another movie that goes in unexpected directions, James Cameron's The Abyss, though I think Happy Feet managed the change better than The Abyss did. I admit it's a tad bit unrealistic to expect humans to stop fishing but I hold up my country (The Philippines) as an example of sudden, unexpected mass actions (the 1986 EDSA revolution)that betrays the notion human history can only move in gradual, grinding steps.
I think what separates this movie from all the other computer-generated films this year is eloquently told in one scene, when Mumbles asks Gloria to dance to the rhythm in his steps. It's a wordless scene (yes, Gloria is singing, I guess I mean there's no dialog). Miller cuts and moves the camera with the precision of a wonderful storyteller. This is the director of Mad Max back in the territory he knows best, a musical number cut clearly and precisely (like an action scene SHOULD be cut!) to show that the two unmatched penguins ARE meant for each other.
I'd definitely buy this in Blu-Ray. With commentary from Miller, please!