Grade: B-
'Happy Feet' is such a dissappointing delight. The first half was better than I expected - full of impressive motion-capture animation, plucky scenes, and pop-music weavings the caliber of 'Moulin Rouge' (also Australian made). The story begins as a tale of a penguin who can't sing (necessary for finding a mate), and becomes an outcast due to his tap dancing talent. But then the movie gets political and preachy, with the main lesson being that we humans need to be careful where we fish. That's great, but subtlety would have been a virtue in this children's movie. I agree with Kris Kaltenbach of the Baltimore Sun, who said "let's just say this is a perfect film for penguin lovers who also are devoted members of the Green party."
Maybe this movie would be good for a 8 year old, or so, but I felt uncomfortable with my 2 year old daughter during some darkly realistic scenes.
With mixed feelings, I'd recommend 'Happy Feet' to those old enough to spell 'environmentalism.'
9 comments:
Don't they know that if we had less penguins then we wouldn't have the problem of less fish in the ocean. Gosh. We can't be concerned about ever itty bitty little species. There isn't enough time in the day.
Great review, and hopefully (spelling permitting) I should be seeing this film in the next year or two.
lol. I suspect you've been reading Darth Spencer's blog, with a solution like that. Do the weak deserve their fate? Hmmmm.
Thanks for the review Cblakes. We'll give Gracie a few years before she sees the movie. We have been teaching her the word "pinguinos" (spanish for penguin).
Hmmm. That's interesting that the makers were so up front with the environmentalism stuff. Were they more subtle with the gay rights analogy (penguin who is outcast because his mating methods (dancing) are different than everyone else's (singing))?
You hit the nail on the head, Ian. I noticed that as well, but forgot about it with all the environmentalism. Compared to the "green" messages, the gay subtext was subtle - as much as movies like 'Shark Tale' and the first two 'X-Men' are.
It seems that conservative film critics aren't happy with either message - but even liberal critics like the Salt Lake Tribune's Sean P. Means acknowledges the gay allegory: http://www.film-finder.com/Review.asp?ID=49425
Is 'Happy Feet' propaganda? Kind of, I think. Every film at some level had ideologies, and this one chose to be not-so-subtle with a few of them. I'm wondering which is more influential - explicit or implicit movie themes. With obvious messages at least its easier to discuss the issues with kids.
Anyway, thanks for the post:)
could you expound upon the hidden messages in X-Men, X-men2 and shark tale. I just want to make sure I am not being gayly misled.
I haven't seen Happy Feet, but my impression is that it took the gay rights analogy one step further than X-men/Sharks Tale did. X-men/Sharks tale had more of a general prejudice theme and let the viewers make the connection to the current debate about gay rights/discrimination. Happy feet actually made the source of the discrimination a difference in mating methods. The penguin was outcast because he couldn't sing, which is how the emperor penguins find their mate (which we all know now, thanks to March of the Penguins). That makes the gay rights analogy pretty glaring in my mind.
Great questions and comments, Judd (aka rumble) and Ian.
About your question, Judd. I think common themes of the X-Men comics include selflessness, intolerance, discrimination, and teamwork. The first two movies were directed by Bryan Singer, who is openly gay. He's also Jewish and was adopted. So I bet he could really identify with the outcast issues of the X-Men.
I think the first two X-Men movies focused a lot on the tolerance theme. Here's an example of a scene from X-Men 2 (i think) that I think homosexuals identify with: Iceman is at his home, and has a "coming out of the closet" moment by telling his parents he's a mutant. His mom replies, "Have you ever tried not being a mutant?" Of course, he can't, as many homosexuals claim they cannot change.
With Shark Tale, the Jack Black shark character, Lenny, doesn't want to kill to eat - a "traditional" lifestyle of sharks. Lenny's father struggles with his son's tendencies, but at the end of the film, accepts Lenny's lifestyle choice, and supports it. The father-son tension about Lenny's non-aggressive behavior is pretty analogous to debated gay issues within families.
Ian - It hadn't occured to me that the penguin, Mumble...that his source of differentiation was related to his mating ability. That's a really good point. In clarification, however, he does have a romantic relationship with Gloria, a female penguin, so his mating preferences were "traditional," while his courting ability was alternative. To me it seemed like a negative and positive cancelling eachother out, as far as the gay rights analogy went.
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