Film Reviews

Happy Feet

• Rating:
• Director: George Miller.
• Starring: Elijah Wood, Brittany Murphy, Hugh Jackman, Robin Williams.
• Details: US / 108mins (PG).

Whether it's The Goonies or Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, if a movie has a scene where the characters are sliding down or through something -I'm there, front row centre. So, if you're a fan of that, you'll be pleased to know that Happy Feet is full of sequences of penguins sliding through, around, over and under ice at top speed. In what is a cross between Riverdance and March Of The Penguins, Happy Feet follows the trails and tribulations of a penguin called Mumble (Wood), an outsider who never learned to sing like his fellow penguins and instead prefers to tap-dance. Blamed for the shortage of fish, Mumble is banished from his colony and, after meeting some funky Latino penguins, decides to find out the real reason behind the famine. Directed and co-written by the man who brought you Babe (and Mad Max), George Miller has a knack for making ideal kids movies that can be enjoyed by adults. But Happy Feet is different from all the rest and that's down to the last fifteen minutes, as Miller delivers something quite unusual for a kid's anime (I don't want to give anything away here, but you'll be very surprised).The narrative can be at times clunky as if Miller and co. were just writing what they thought would look cool on screen, but the animation more than makes up for it. Crisp and clear, it's flawless and has raised the bar for others to follow - even Mumble kind of looks like Elijah Wood. The almost ever-present soundtrack is a rundown of classic pop and keeps the momentum running during the quieter moments. An eco-friendly movie, Happy Feet really sets its stall out with a serious message and takes no prisoners doing so.

Review by Gavin Burke