Hot-buttered opinion on the latest flicks

Happy Feet

Thu., Nov. 16, 2006 4:35 PM PST by Matt Stevens

First the penguins were marching; now they're dancing! Unhappily, Happy Feet isn't as nimble as its toe-tapping hero and stumbles over its plodding plotting.

Deep in Antarctica, little Mumble (voiced by Elijah Wood) is born to flippered folks Memphis (Hugh Jackman channeling Elvis) and Norma Jean (Nicole Kidman doing a whispery Marilyn Monroe). All emperor penguins are expected to sing, but poor Mumble can't carry a tune—he can, however, do some fancy footwork.

To no avail: Mumble's odd "hippity-hoppity" ways are blamed for the nation's shortage of fish (Doesn't make sense to me, either), and the footloose guy gets cast out by the elders. Trekking across the continent, Mumble befriends a few Hispanic, ghetto-talking penguins (Robin Williams among them) and a crazy guru penguin (Williams again!), and with their help tries to prove his worth to his family and flock.

Happy Feet features spectacular feats of animation, with exciting chase sequences and underwater acrobatics, and the song-heavy soundtrack boasts slick mash-ups. But HF, in its lazy storytelling, tosses in musical numbers instead of integrating them and bases Mumble's parents on dead performers instead of creating fleshed characters.

Director George Miller, who also gave us a talking pig (the much-superior Babe), tries to go pro-environmental as the bloated pic's plot goes global. Ironically, he leaves us with the opposite message: that critters deserve our protection and attention just as long as they amuse us. Dance, penguin, dance!