While there are many precedents of movie franchises churning out sequel after sequel and justifying it with box office receipts and Studios counting the cash, Happy Feet 2 sits or stands if you prefer rather uncomfortably. True there is an impressive cast and a few funny moments but for me, it lacks the charm of say Toy Story or even Cars which are from the Pixar stables. A sequel to the very successful first instalment was inevitable as it did some serious business worldwide,however it lacks the charm or charisma of the previous outing.
This film sees Elijah Wood again as Mumble who has grown up somewhat and is now a dad to Erik. The plot revolves around Erik and his feeling of isolation and fitting in with the world, mirroring his dad’s previous struggles in seemingly being different to the crowd. Erik is very opposed to dance after a disastrous try and finds himself running away along with Ramon, (voiced by Robin Williams who provides the better comedy moments throughout) he comes across the path of Sven an apparent flying penguin (he’s actually a Puffin). In Sven, little Erik sees a cool role model much to the disillusionment of his dad, Mumble (Wood).
Meanwhile events take a strange turn as the colony find themselves trapped from moving glaciers which has serious consequences for all. Some welcome comic relief arrive in the form of Will and Bill the krill played by Brad Pitt and Matt Damon respectively, the back and forth between the two likeable characters makes the picture more bearable. Some nice moments but not a patch on the original sadly.This was never going to be one for the adults, the kids of a lower age group will no doubt love it and the animations are good as always and a few clever dance numbers thrown in. Fans of 3D will enjoy it for the effects and landscape scenery and will no doubt prove popular.
For me it just lacked the universal appeal of other animated movies at present and the plot seems to have far too much going on, add to that the endless musical numbers and you pretty much know what you’re going to get. A likeable if not lovable movie, there are better films out there for the kids this holiday season.
