Review of Happy Feet Two (2011) by Robert H — 18 Sep 2014

The story this time around is a little more unfocused, with some superfluous characters, but the animation is just as impressive and voice cast is expanded in this sequel to the Academy Award-winning HAPPY FEET.

In HAPPY FEET TWO, Mumble and Gloria have a son Erik who is having difficulty finding his place in the community. Will he sing? Will he dance? He doesn't know. Meanwhile, shifting Arctic ice traps the majority of the Emperor penguin colony and Mumble goes to off to find help.

What I noticed as different this time was that there wasn't as much singing/dancing. This was an element that really enriched the first one and made me enjoy it a little more. The story in this sequel had less of that, and at times was a little dull and borderline depressing.

Still, there is a happy ending because, you know, it's a kid's movie. Also, while it was nice to have a larger cast full of recognizable voices, a couple of the characters they play were largely unnecessary and distracting to the overall story-line.

The two biggest offenders, despite how entertaining they were to watch, were Brad Pitt and Matt Damon as two krill. Why were they in the movie? Who knows? They never interacted with the main story in any meaningful way, and just seemed like an excuse to get a couple more big-name actors on the marquee.

A little more understandable in terms of the themes is the inclusion of a puffin named Sven, who can fly. His primary function is to provide inspiration and guidance to Erik although, as penguins (and the audience) already know, they can't fly even if they wanted to.

Despite the character being somewhat unneeded, Hank Azaria did a great job voicing him. The rest of the voice cast, some of which were replacements (Common for Fat Joe, and P!nk for Brittany Murphy), also did a good job, but P!nk was probably the least compelling of them all.

She's a decent singer, but her acting could definitely use some work. Overall, the film was slightly less entertaining than its predecessor, but nonetheless enjoyable in its own right.