I was not first in the queue at the multiplex when Happy Feet came out. Despite being a fan of CGI movies, I'm not a dancing enthusiast and, frankly, I got the joke - dancing penguins, ha ha - without actually seeing the film. Also, much as I like Robin Williams live and in straight roles, I can have enough of him quite quickly when he is voicing animated characters. Anyway, I finally saw it, and it was exactly what I expected - OK, albeit the underlying gag was not sufficient to underpin a feature-length movie.

Clearly, I was out of step, because in due course along comes Happy Feet 2. Oh well, I reasoned, hopefully the 3D will be enough to keep me interested.

Now it seems that not only was I out of step on Happy Feet 1, I'm also out of step on Happy Feet 2, because I loved it. The dancing is kept to a minimum and such dancing as there is takes place in strict service to the demands of the plot. After what looked as if it was going to be, worryingly, a retread of the first movie (Mumbles' young son Eric is also rhythmically challenged and wanders unhappily away from the Emperor penguins' colony),Eric's terpsichorean shortcomings are overlooked as a) we meet some new characters - specifically an Australian elephant seal and a pair of Krill (voiced wonderfully by Brad Pitt and Matt Damon),and b) a huge iceberg traps the Emperor colony, putting them at risk of starvation. Only Mumbles, Eric, and Eric's two chick friends can (with help) save the day.

There is a lot more story here than in the first film, and much of it is very suspenseful. There are some wonderful visuals, some hysterically funny dialogue from the two Krill (Will and Bill Krill - Will is determined to reverse roles and become a carnivorous predator, to the horror of his meek friend Bill),and some inspired moments which choke you up with emotion at the same time as making you laugh. I never thought I would use the adjective "idotically" with the noun "beautiful", but when a pack of Krill start geometric pulsations of their fluorescence in time to their tap dancing to Under Pressure on the underside of an iceberg, idiotically beautiful is the only way to describe what you are seeing.

Oh, and the 3D, while not essential, has some spectacular moments.

I loved it.

Even if there is tons of that like in this film here. I liked the first film mostly for the charm and emotional story lines, for example the one about Mumble and his dad. This sequel, which came out five years after the first, lacks completely in that area. They tried to do the same as in the first film (that won the Best Animated Feature Oscar) in some areas, for example they included once again a mix of live action and animation with the animation being the far dominant part. However, this turned out a disappointment. Not even the small fluffy penguins were a delight anymore as they were written so annoyingly with stupid rap songs and without the slightest ounce of obedience to their elders. Talking about the music, it was really really bad early on, but got a bit better as the film went wrong. Still I heavily object to the casting of Pink here. In terms of voice acting, she adds nothing to this movie, simply because she never does it. All she does is sing and her loud scratchy voice did not bring any emotion that this film was so badly in need of. She even sort-of destroyed the final scene with her rendition of Queen's "Under Pressure". As an animal choir the way it started I liked it, but then she started singing and all the magic was gone.

This movie was shout completely at the Annie Award (animation Oscar) that year and that says it all. It is a bit of a joke this film had 3 directors and 6 writers and this is what they came up with. Truly embarrassing. The core filmmaker was also the one who directed the first "Happy Feet" movie and he is otherwise mostly known for directing "Mad Max" (the old and the new). What a strange collection of movies he worked on. It does not get any further apart than "Mad Max" and "Happy Feet". One of the film's intended most emotional moments was when the walrus is trapped and Mumble goes to rescue him, so he can reunite with his children. Sadly, the execution really took out all the emotion for some reason. This could have been so much more. Apart from that, this scene made it obvious that the walrus would return the favor at some point later in the movie and now this film was not only void of any heart, but also fairly predictable. The film gets a bit better after the 30-minute-mark, but that does not mean that it becomes a quality movie, just that it really really sucked early on.

Another oddity in here is the inclusion of Brad Pitt and Matt Damon as voice actors. I wonder what they were thinking including the duo as krill. I guess they only wanted to advertise the film with these two superstars as their characters basically had nothing to do at all with Mumble and the gang. It was like they were in their own movie, even more extreme than with Scrat and the "Ice Age" films. And Bill's and Will's storyline adds absolutely nothing to this sequel here. So far, there is no news yet about a third "Happy Feet" installment and I do not really think it is necessary unless they somehow manage to come up with something a lot better than they achieved here. The director is busy anyway right now with the "Mad Max" sequel, but who knows. Between film 1 and 2, also a lot of time went by.

Another weakness is that the film takes itself so seriously at times and then again is so goofy and childish on other occasions. You really don't know what to think of that. For example there are really all kinds of musical styles in here from rap music to almost opera music or stuff you would expect in "Les Misérables". The only truly positive thing here was the animation. The finale was mesmerizing to watch actually and that was only on a small computer screen. But as I wrote in the title: This is not enough.

Mumble the penguin and Gloria have a son Erik. All the penguins are now dancing but Erik is struggling to get the hang of it. All around them, the ice is melting. Erik and his friends Bodicea and Atticus goes off to follow Ramon (Robin Williams). They arrive at Adélie-Land led by The Mighty Sven who can fly and is actually a puffin. Sven and Lovelace survived an oil slice to be rescued by humans. They escaped to rule the Adélie penguins. Mumble goes and retrieves the three little guys. However a giant upheaval blocks off and traps all the Emperor penguins. Meanwhile, there is a couple of krills (Brad Pitt, Matt Damon) trying to find their place in the world.

It is loud. It is brash. It's even more colorful than the first one. However the story is a rambling mess. They're trying to incorporate human climate change, have people, other animal characters and even introduces a side story about krills. It's too much and leaves a story without cohesion. Having Brad Pitt and Matt Damon as krill friends may be funny on paper, but it's tough to realize that it is actually Pitt and Damon. The voice work isn't unique enough to make that connection. It probably needs a lot of inside modern references to make that connection. Although they provide some interesting comedy.