Surf's Up (***)

Another animated movie about penguins, but actually something different. The story is told as a faux documentary, ostensibly being filmed set to air on the fictive sports SPEN network, about an underdog (underbird?), voiced by Shia LaBeouf, who heads for a big surfing championship, hoping to follow in the shoes of his idol, the late Big Z. Along the way he meets a hot female penguin (Zooey Deschanel) and her laid-back dad (Jeff Bridges, perhaps channeling his Big Lebowski character). The result is more often clever than funny, but it avoids most of the cloying sentimentality of family fare. However, the format, with its quick cuts and style reminiscent of actual surf movies like Riding Giants, means that younger kids won’t really follow it, and even older kids might miss some of the parody aspects of the story, which actually makes few jokes that have anything to do with penguins, and more to do with the clichés spouted by athletes being interviewed.

(Reviewed 6/15/07)
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Happy Feet (***)

? It’s the November of the penguins in this computer-animated feature about a young emperor penguin who becomes something of an outcast because, unlike the rest of his colony, he can’t carry a tune. He can, however, tap dance, and finds some acceptance with some folks in a neighboring colony where everyone sounds Hispanic. George Miller (The Road Warrior) directed the Aussie-made movie, which features the voices of Elijah Wood, Brittany Murphy, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman and, doing his best Isaac Hayes impression, Robin Williams as a comical guru who also narrates the story.

+  Antarctica and the penguins are rendered with an almost photographic accuracy. (The penguins actually look pretty much alike, so size is mostly used to distinguish one from the other.) The musical numbers, even the medleys, are mostly well produced. Since they’re hits of the last 50 years, they’re guaranteed to push the buttons of anyone from 6 to 66. Amusingly, a major plot point involves whether “aliens” exist. A flying bird that almost eats the hero insists that he was the victim of an alien abduction that resulted in the tag he sports on his leg. For a story that appears headed for a familiar destination, the route is surprising. If this weren’t a family-oriented cartoon, I might even call the last segment existential. Like some kind of mini-Penguin of the Rings, it was definitely the most interesting segment for me, even if it might confuse the youngest viewers. The movie also carries a pro-conservation message.

- Perhaps reflecting the four credited writers, this is a somewhat disjointed movie. The first 2/3 has about 12 minutes of plot and a lot of visual and musical riffs that collectively made the movie seem a little long. (For an animated movie, it is.) At times the plight of the hero seems to be a metaphor for gay rights, at others a shot at cultural reactionaries. But then the last part of the movie is chock full of plot, and, as noted, possibly confusing for little kids. (A sequence where whales nearly have penguin tartare might frighten them too.) The fact that nearly all the penguins look alike might prevent the characters from leaving as indelible a mark as some other cartoon heroes.

= *** I’m not sure what kids will think of this. It’s warm and fuzzy in parts, not in others, but they’ll like the singing penguins. The ending is magical for all ages.

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