Happy Feet

We start this movie in outer space and eventually settle in Antarctica during the Emperor Penguin courting season. We see Norma Jean (Nicole Kidman) singing her heart song. I don't know if the actors are really singing (I think they were), but if they aren't the transitions are flawless. She sings her song and the male penguins sing their songs, until she meets the one penguin whose song meshes perfectly with hers. Enter Memphis (Huge Jackman). They are happy together and have an egg. During the fishing season, where all the females go off to fish, the men all gather around and keep the eggs warm while each taking their turn at the edge of the huddle. While Memphis was on the edge, his mind wandered and he let the egg slip away from him. He manages to get it back, but they are not supposed to drop their eggs.  Later when the eggs begin to hatch, Memphis' egg is a little slow, but eventually pops out feet first.

Memphis realizes right away that something is different with Mumble (Elijah Wood); he doesn't stop dancing. He says his feet are happy. When the females come back Norma notices also, but it doesn't bother her as much as Memphis. When they go to school, they realize that Mumble can't sing. He doesn't have a heart song, which is unheard of for a Emperor Penguin.  Even the best teacher can't help him, he only dances.  So as the other baby penguins go off to sing, Mumble goes off by himself to dance. One time he gets caught by skuas, something like seagulls I think. One of them has a yellow band around his leg and he claims that he was abducted by aliens. Mumble manages to escape as the skua is describing his experience.

Later, when all the baby penguins have graduated, except for Mumble, because he hasn't full molted, Gloria (Brittany Murphy) is singing, Mumble's keeps getting caught up and trying to sing, only to ruin everything. He eventually gets left on a small iceberg where he is attacked by a seal. He gets away and meets up with Ramon (Robin Williams) and his gang of friends. They are Adélie penguins, much smaller, and build nests to attract mates instead of singing. They like having fun though, and are psyched when the see that Mumble can dance. They discover a giant crane, that intrigues Mumble. He wants to know what it is.  The guys take him to see Lovelace (also Robin Williams). He supposedly knows all the answers bestowed on him by the penguin gods, who placed plastic rings around his neck.

Not getting the answer he wanted Mumble goes back home with his friends and fake singing to get Gloria. She catches on, and Mumble instead starts to dance and she sings to his beat. Things are going well, but the elders aren't happy. They exile Mumble when he won't stop dancing. They think it's his dancing that is causing the fish shortage. Mumble thinks it's the aliens that the skua spoke of. He goes off back to Lovelace, and discovers the plastic is choking him. They then drag the semi-conscious penguin half way across Antarctica to find where he got it. It is there they see the fishing boats. Mumble swims out after them, not giving up and eventually ends up on a beach somewhere and is put in a zoo. He goes a little bit nuts, until he remembers dancing. The humans see him dance and then let him go. He goes back to the Emperor Penguins and tells them that the aliens really were stealing the fish.  He then tells them that they respond to dancing and that everyone should dance. So mostly everyone does. The others sing, in what is a very eerily beautiful scene. The humans then do show up, and then everyone starts dancing, which apparently means 'stop stealing our fish dammit!', because the human do exactly that and they all live happily every after.

This movie was really good, right up until the end. Then it got stupid. The ending was very unbelievable and didn't seem to fit with the rest of the movie. The beginning was fine. If I was at home watching it, I probably would have got up and danced with the penguins in some scenes, but I was at the theatre... so I didn't.  I thought they were going to end it with Mumble swimming out to sea after the boats and the more I think about it the more I think they should have. It would have been a unique ending at least and not the contrived one they came up with.

There was really nothing ground breaking with this movie. It was a cute 'coming of age' movie like so many others. Is it too much to ask for something new?

Grade: 7.5/10