Happy Feet Two

Voices of: Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Pink, Meibh Campbell, Sofia Vergara, Ava Acres, Benjamin Flores Jr., Common, Hugo Weaving, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Hank Azaria, Richard Carter, Anthony LaPaglia
Directed by: George Miller, Gary Eck, David Peers
Rating: PG
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Adventure
2011

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Mumble (Elijah Wood) struggles to raise his son, Erik as the penguin colony faces a new threat.

Review:

Tim: I wasn't a big fan of Happy Feet and I probably would have never sat down to watch the sequel. However, we're still in a Covid-19 quarantine and I have two kids at home. So, Happy Feet Two, here we go. Once again, I was underwhelmed with this movie. It feels like it didn't learn any lessons from the first movie. Instead, it follows the typical sequel route- lots of similarities, but even less effective.

I find the box office fascinating, because it's one indication of how people vote (with their wallets). The first movie was a bona fide hit, raking in $198 million at the domestic box office. A lot of people went to see a movie I thought wasn't very good. Five years later, significantly fewer people were interested in the sequel. There's obviously multiple reasons why, but you have to believe that many who saw the first one were underwhelmed and chose not to make the trip again. This film made $64 million at the box office. That's a massive drop. That is partially because this movie isn't good, but it's also a big indicator that the first movie was overrated. No surprise that there wasn't a third film.

I found this movie equally as weird as the first one. Sometimes it works (Bill and Will Krill), but more often, it doesn't (much of the rest of the movie). The film tries to juggle a family story with Mumble and his son with a larger scale "threat to the colony" story. These two don't always work well, so it gives the movie a disjointed feel. It often feels like, "Hey, pause the plot of all the penguins potentially dying, let's check in on Mumble and Erik.... That was good, right? Back to the adventure!" It doesn't work nearly as well as it should. The movie is a bit confusing- my five year-old son asked a LOT of questions and I couldn't always answer them. It feels like there's a lot here and not all of it is relevant.

I do want to take a minute to focus on Bill and Will Krill. Their subplot was incredibly odd, but it worked. It's this existential buddy adventure road trip subplot that was a bit meta. None of it should have worked, but it absolutely did. I found myself far more interested in these unlikely characters than anything happening with the penguins. This aspect of the film was definitely geared towards adults and it works. It certainly helps that Brad Pitt and Matt Damon voice these characters. That was great fun and my favorite part of the movie.

The penguin story felt disjointed. There's the main danger of the bulk of the penguin colony being cut off by a giant sheet of ice. This separates Mumble's family. There's also this subplot about a "flying" penguin, voiced uncomfortably un-PC-like by Hank Azaria. This whole thing was weird and I didn't care for it at all. it was confusing, unfunny, uncomfortable, and ultimately unsatisfying. It was one of the worst parts of the movie. Contrast this with the subplot of Bryan- that one actually works, teaches kids a lesson, and is fairly entertaining. Had there been more Bryan and less Sven, this movie would have been significantly better. I have to say, I also really disliked Ramon. I feel bad because Robin Williams tried, but his character and his performance simply didn't work. I didn't laugh a single, solitary time at his character. The romance with Sofia Vergara was ineffective as well. These aspects of the movie that don't work really sink the film.

Elijah Wood was fine as Mumble. I didn't love his performance. Pink was totally forgettable and I missed having Brittany Murphy in that role. Hugo Weaving barely makes a dent. The rest of the cast was average. Despite some big names, this isn't a spectacular voice cast.

The visuals were good. The penguins certainly were animated to look realistic. It makes it hard to distinguish them, but the approach was novel. I was torn on the scenes mixing live action with the animation. At times, I thought it was cool and gave the film a unique vibe. At others, it felt unnecessary and disruptive to the main story.

I have to be clear, I wasn't a fan of Happy Feet Two. It's not as good as the first film and that was disappointing to begin with. I'm glad it did so poorly at the box office- maybe it woke George Miller up and got him out of this weird world. Let someone else make substandard animated movies, he's too talented to waste his time here.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Happy Feet, Madagascar