grade Movie Reviews

• Reviewed by GVance1 grade 3 / 10

  Incredibly Boring

  My husband & I watched this recently with our 6-year-old son, and my brother-in-law. All three adults were nearly put to sleep by this endless, pointless, plot less film. My son laughed out loud at one joke (involving flatulence -- he *is* six, after all), and seemed to like the movie overall, but he hasn't referred to it since. He certainly hasn't asked if he could watch it again, which is typical for him.At first, I thought that it might be simply the visual monotony of so much ice & snow that was putting me to sleep. No -- it was just that the plot was so thin and uninteresting. We honestly could not wait for it to end. You can have all the celebrity voices in the world, but that doesn't make up for a bad (or nonexistent) story.

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• Reviewed by Pat Gear (pgear83) grade 10 / 10

  A Joyful Masterpiece

  George Miller's Happy Feet is an exuberant, beautifully animated film and, by a wide margin, the best CG film ever made. The photo-realistic characters and Antarctic landscapes provide the backdrop for a story of brilliant originality. The film's plot is somewhat based in reality - but with a surreal twist. The movie is a spectacular jukebox musical in which Emperor penguins serenade each other with songs from some of the royalty of music (Queen, Prince, "The King" Elvis Presley) in order to find a mate. One penguin, Mumble, cannot sing but expresses himself through tap-dancing. For this abnormality, he is ostracized by his fellows, blamed for the misfortune of famine and eventually banished from his home. He then goes on a perilous quest to find answers that are not otherwise forthcoming.In addition to the music and spectacle, the greatness of Happy Feet is found in its ideas. Miller (producer of Babe) has made another great film for children (though certainly not only for children) because he knows that the great children's stories do not merely pander to and occupy them but attempt to convey something about the nature of the world, something that is not necessarily pleasant. The themes of Happy Feet are as timeless as they are important. Tolerance and respect for those different from you, compassion, respect for the environment and for the dignity of all its inhabitants; these are not political issues but ones of the greatest moral importance and essential to the survival of the human spirit. In a world that sometimes seems to be becoming increasing intolerant, in a world that may be standing on the precipice of environmental disaster if something is not done, I find a great deal of hope in this story. These animated penguins, who show more humanity than most human actors do on celluloid, may just have what it takes to bring out the basic goodness in the people who see them, to "appeal to our better nature," if you will.On another level, I see Happy Feet as a great parable about the generation gap, with Mumble and his friends as the children of the world. Their differences and uniqueness frighten their elders, who may be falsely pious or else just set in their ways. Yet Mumble does not hold a grudge against them. In the end, Mumble not only makes the world better than it was when it was given to him, but actively draws those same elders into this new world, redeeming them and allowing them to help in its creation. All with the power of song and dance!Overall, Happy Feet is a joyous spectacle for the eyes and ears. It was so good that I had to see it a second time in the theater, something I had never done before. It even makes tap-dancing seem incredibly cool. This is a film that cannot be ignored and will not be forgotten.

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• Reviewed by algancan2 grade 4 / 10

  Not a Very Good One

  People think that this film is a great animation film but there are many other animation films out there which are way more creative in terms of storyline and characters. I hate to see those films being rated down because some "kids" didn't liked it or didn't understood it...

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