Amazing animation, but a disappointment otherwise

Rating: 6/10 (17 November 2006)

In the never-ending quest to appease all the filmgoers by throttling them with the same beloved idea over and over again, we have Happy Feet, another movie involving penguins as main characters. Despite not being too hyped to see the film, I was intrigued by all of the praise it was getting. But after seeing it, I really beg to ask why.
The film begins much the same as the entirety of March of the Penguins, with the Emperor penguins mating rituals. Only these penguins can talk, and can make the audience actually understand their mating calls - singing. After a particularly interesting opening musical sequence, we meet Memphis (Hugh Jackman) and Norma Jean (Nicole Kidman). They fall in love, and they conceive a baby. After Norma Jean leaves to retrieve food, Memphis is left with the egg. Not so long after just barely saving the egg from a fatal accident, it hatches, and Mumble (Elizabeth Daily as a youngster, and Elijah Wood when older) is born. For some reason, Mumble has issues singing. But he does not have any problems dancing, which only brings trouble from the rest of the penguins, including his parents. The rest of the film chronicles Mumble's ups-and-downs, and how he confronts his "problem".
Despite its cuteness, I just thought the movie was way too silly for its own good. The singing and dancing was alright for the first little bit, but just did not work nearly as well as the film went on. It wants to be the focus of the film, but feels way too awkwardly placed in between intervals with the actual plot. Even worse is the fact that the plot randomly deviates about halfway through the film, and brings in points that barely any child would be able to understand. To me, it felt out of place in the film, and just felt like it was thrown in as an after thought to make the film even longer than it should have been. I knew the trailers really left a lot to the imagination (as does the actual concept for the film), but I am fairly certain they could have pulled off something much better than they did. I do not want to reveal just what it is that happens, but despite the good intentions with the message, it just does not work.
The voices are all fairly well done all around. Robin Williams is zany as always in his three roles, but of course, he pulls them off with such excellence that you can barely tell that he is voicing more than one (if any at all). Wood is great as Mumbles, and Brittany Murphy does an adequate job as the love interest Gloria. Kidman does alright for herself (if you can even tell its her voice), but I was really stunned by Jackman. His Elvis impersonation is gold, and he just rocks the screen anytime his character says anything. For such a busy actor, you really can tell his commitment to pictures like this, and it only helps to show the good things he has coming for him in the future.
The real standout of the film however, are the CGI effects. These penguins look amazingly real, and their backgrounds look even better. Just looking at the penguins, you can barely tell whether they are digitally fabricated or if they are real. They walk and move like penguins, and they look pitch perfect in comparison with March. Mumble's body is particularly awestriking, as it shows off individual strands of fur in every shot. When he jumps in and out of water, it is very noticeable, and never falters once. It reminded me a lot of how excellent the original Toy Story film looked back in the '90s, and how things have improved even more since then. The snowy landscapes are also particularly good and realistic to boot. I was amazed by just how wonderful this film looked, and even more impressed by its realism. The other animals, from seals to whales, also look amazingly realistic. I felt like I was watching the real thing, not just an animated film.
If anything, the film fumbles when it attempts to mix in some live-action footage late in the game. It may look like it was digitally created at first, but soon after you can see how blatantly obvious it is that it is not. It just looks weird, and it takes away from the excellent work done throughout the rest of the film. Why the filmmakers would insist on ruining a perfectly well animated film, I am still unsure. But as it goes along with the random misplaced subplot, I really begin to wonder why it was thrown in at all.
To me, Happy Feet is a movie made with good intentions, but just does not end up fulfilling them. It ups the stakes too high for itself, and it just really builds up to nothing. I was disappointed heavily by it, and am still puzzled by just what the critics were thinking. Maybe I missed something? Or maybe I am just seeing through the shoddy job done on the film? Obviously it will go unknown, but just do note that there are far better animated films that have been released this year. Feet just feels subpar and inadequate in comparison to them.
6/10.