Adventure waddles along

A FEW years ago, back in 2006, I took my nephew Liam to see Happy Feet and we both had great fun watching it. This time, I went without him to see the sequel and something was missing, writes Charlie Holding.

During this movie I barely laughed once. Perhaps it’s because I didn’t have his mischievous giggle in my ear, or maybe this time, the concept just isn’t as fresh.

Whatever the reason, this was over an hour of my life I will never get back.

I love penguins, I don’t know why, something about the way they waddle just makes me happy inside but this film failed to entertain and I’d much rather have re-watched March of the Penguins.
 
The story reunites audiences with the penguins of the Antarctic in a visually magnificent 3D fashion, but it takes more than some super 3D graphics to entertain this critic.

Mumble – the penguin who learned how to dance in the first film (Wood) – has now got a son of his own, Erick (Ava Acres) and a wife, Gloria (Pink)

Predictably, at the beginning of the movie, Erick is also struggling to find his own beat and rather than taking pointers from his father (the greatest dancing penguin of all time) he decides to run away … as you do.

Along the way, Erick hooks up with his friends, including smart-mouth Ramon (Robbin Williams) and the new kid on the block, a ‘penguin’ who can fly called Sven (Hank Azaria).

It turns out that Sven is actually a puffin, but that doesn’t seem to matter too much to Erick who firmly believes everything Sven, his energetic new penguin pal, says.

Poor Mumble has no chance of competing with Erick’s new larger than life role-model but nonetheless, sets out after his chick to bring him home.

During his quest to find his wayward son, Mumble discovers that a giant iceberg has crashed into their home and trapped all the other Emperor penguins, including his wife Gloria, at the bottom of a gorge.

Stepping up to the plate, Mumble enlists the help of the rival Adelie penguins and even the less-than- impressed elephant seals to try and save the day.

It’s a nice bit about putting aside your differences for the common good, but it’s far from original.
 
Meanwhile, Sven turns out to be a good role model for Erick and encourages him to follow his dreams.

There are more new characters on the scene including Will and Bill Krill (Brad Pitt and Matt Damon), who break off from their swarm to enjoy life on their own. They have some of the funnier moments in the movie and their banter is good for a distraction from the weak plot.

For a moment I almost forgot just how much I hate Matt Damon, but I’m putting that down to the fact I couldn’t see his annoying face and only heard his voice.
 
Williams does a great job as always and brings some much- needed comic relief to the film. His performance is akin to some of his finer stand-up comedy routines and his voice is perfect for the role of the wise-cracking Ramon.

Also, since Brittany Murphy’s untimely death, the role of Gloria has been taken by pop singer Pink. It always makes sense to have a professional singer in a voice role that requires singing, and she does very well with her part.

My biggest problem with the film is that it has too much going on at once. With at least a half dozen sub-plots it’s hard to find the focus of the movie. While that might be fine for kids who are just happy to see some great 3D graphics, I was less than impressed.

Despite the all-star cast of vocal talent, this movie still failed to deliver the goods that made the first film so successful and funny.

Showing in Cineco, Seef I and Saar Cineplex