Extremely good - and not too preachy at all.

Rating: 9/10 (27 December 2006)

I've read a number of negative comments out there about HF being too preachy. For those yet to see the film - don't let this put you off. HF is fast, funny, clever, witty (musically) and visually stunning.
Yes - there are a few messages about over-fishing, and how this is a bad thing - and that (,this just in...,) it's humans who are the perpetrators ! Im not sure that this is a theme you could possibly over-fish myself - and it was as palatably presented here as anywhere else I've seen. My 8 and 10 year old girls were not patronised, and as adults, my wife and I did not feel we were back in church.
Anyway back to the real themes of the movie. The power of both music and dance to cross cultural and language divides - and the importance of being different. When so much of world culture is being watered down to a brown mush - and the pressure to conform is so strong in some countries that children commit suicide rather than suffer being different - HF raises some excellent points. The main character's 'difference' is what saves the entire colony. HF says diversity is important - and having the courage to be different in the face of massive peer pressure is the real message of this movie.
A few points about the music. From the opening strains (taken from Abbey road) - to the last, HF has a thumping good score with plenty of cleverness. The scenes of penguins musically trying to find a partner with an empathetic theme are extremely well done. A lot of melodies were placed in counterpoint (inter-twined with another), with sometimes four or five ideas going on at the same time. Ill be getting the DVD for this alone I think. This scene happens twice - but the second time we have the melody being counterpoint to the tap dance rhythm from Mumble. Superb.
The last idea I took from HF was the power of both dance and music to communicate across the divides. Rather than the inexplicably negative conclusion that some have come to in reviews here - I took great optimism from the fact that humans were in the end able to relate to the penguins, and decide to stop their bad old ways.
A fine movie - one that both adults and children will enjoy.