Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.

I’m a big fan of HAPPY FEET, and I’ll have my review up later this week, as welll as a chat with George Miller. Right now, we’ve got two early reviews for you. This first guy got a bonus when he went to see the film, though. Check this out:

Happy Sunday, Harry!

I just got home from a sneek showing of Happy Feet, the lastest CGI flick due to hit theatres next week.
Much to my surprise and delight, the WB logo came into view with some familiar yet ominous music and then I heard Gary Oldman's voice saying something about the return of He who must not be named. My memories a bit sketchy, but the scenes that stuck in my mind are Dumbledoor speaking angrily to the ministry of Voldemorts return, Professor Snape telling Harry that he "won't last two seconds if He (voldy) were inside his head." and the order leading Harry on a flight above London. There were quick flashes of main characters, old and new and a frightening image of evil Voldy emerging from a gray haze of fog (or smoke). Looks Good!!

The second teaser was a holiday movie coming out Christmas 2007, starring Paul Giamatti as Santa Claus and Vince Vaughn as his lesser known brother, from the makers of the Wedding Crashers. The teaser has the two sitting on a couch with Giamatti in Santa garb while Vaughn simmers next to him in a black outfit. Giamatti says something about Rudolph having a rash and Vaugn tells him he should look into getting dogs instead of reindeer. The two bicker on. Reminds me of the dynamic between Ray Romano and his brother on the TV show. Looks hilarious.

Then the main show, Happy Feet. I went in with low expectations thinking oh, great, singing penguins, just hollywood cashing in on the penguin craze generated by the documentary March of the Penguins. But the film had fantastic visuals (a underwater blue-angels style dance of penguins, the harshness of the arctic landscape), tense action (a sea lion more scary than a great white!) and laugh out loud moments. The song and dance was tap-your-feet inducing.

The film held on to the real nature of all the animals (aside from talking and singing and dancing) showing every bit of the rituals (the mom goes fishing while the daddy keeps the egg warm? Why can't daddy go fishing?) including a morbid display of killer whales throwing their prey into the air before eating them. Robin Willaims does a awesome job of voicing several characters it seems (including a Mrs. Doubtfire-sounding Song instructor). The film handles its global message quite creatively, with a mesh of live and CGI worlds. What can I say? My kids loved it. I laughed. I cried. I was satisfied. It gets a A.

Bubba Geek

The Vince Vaughn/Paul Giamatti film is FRED CLAUS. Wasn’t aware there was already a trailer for it. Can’t wait to see that and POTTER. Of course, don’t go for the trailers. Go for HAPPY FEET. Don’t just take my word for it, either. Check this out:

Hey Harry. I had a chance to check out the new Warner movie Happy Feet today at a promotional screening in St. Louis. I'd been ambivalent about this movie during the early trailers, but the later ones started to pique my interest, so I was pretty excited to go see it today. I took my wife and we got there early enough to see a tap dancing presentation by members of a local group, and a penguin facts presentation by someone from the St. Louis
Zoo.

The good news is, we both loved the movie. Everything that seemed good in the previews is here in ample portions. The CGI is flawless...this movie need have no shame at standing up next to Pixar's best stuff. The environments themselves are beatiful, and in certain instances they are interspersed seamlessly with actual humans and their environment. Granted, the style of the penguins is a bit cartoony, but that's the only way the CGI stands out as being any less real than the people.
In fact, I think that's what I liked best about this movie. The mannerisms of the penguins must have been very well researched...it's just like what you see at the zoo. Their walk, their sliding around, everything serves to make you feel like you're watching real penguins interacting, and you've somehow been granted the ability to understand their language.

The story is nothing amazing, but it serves its purpose as a playground for these characters and a backdrop for their musical talents (and Mumble's dancing, of course). The dialogue is great, with Robin Williams having an obviously fun time with his two roles. I agree with the previous review you posted...the voice talent didn't get in the way of the movie (and even having read his review, I still didn't realize I was hearing Hugo Weaving until I saw his name on the credits). One thing that surprises me is that I hadn't heard anything about Steve Irwin's role, perhaps because it's such a brief appearance (I believe he was an elephant seal). Another place this movie really shines is the soundtrack...the music is well chosen and in my opinion probably elevates the movie past average into something really worth seeing.

Bottom line, I highly recommend Happy Feet. It's going to do well with families, despite some lyrics in a song or two that seemed a little out of place, referring to making love and whatnot (nothing graphic). I think it's also got enough funny parts, and enough eye candy in the form of gorgeous CGI, that adults will enjoy it even if they're not towing rugrats. We certainly weren't bored at all during what at first glance might seem to be a bit of a kiddie movie.

Quantumhawk