Happy Feet Two (2011)

Happy Feet was an okay film but enjoyable enough for me to watch it whenever it was on TV. I never cared for Happy Feet Two because what could it possibly have that the original movie didn't? Nothing, that's what.

Mumbo (Elijah Wood), the dancing penguin, has a new problem: his tiny reluctant-to-dance son Erik (Ava Acres) runs away because he doesn't seem to be able to find his talent and encounters The Mighty Sven (Hank Azaria), a penguin who can fly. As if having to compete with this charismatic role model wasn't enough, the world is shaken by powerful forces and Mumbo must save the penguin nation.

Or at least that's what I understood because the plot is an absolute mess. Part of it is exactly the same as the first film, the rest is just a weird collection of short stories. There are indeed way too many subplots in this film that have no relevance whatsoever to the main plot. It's as if the writers didn't how what they wanted the film to be about so they put together a bunch of boring stories and call it a day.

But I'm not quite sure that's the worst thing about Happy Feet Two. The characters are just as bad, if not even worse. Way too many characters are introduced without being given a proper characterization or development, and since most of them are penguins, and they all look alike! It's not like the other characters are any better though. Also, they aren't that likeable -- some are very annoying and creepy to be honest, like those shrimps -- and I couldn't care less about any of them. 

Warner Bros. Pictures, Roadshow Entertainment

Another problem with this is the musical numbers. They are all over the place! Whatever happens, they sing and dance and it's annoying because not a single one of them is good. They all are mediocre to say the least. Most of the songs are amazing though, but the musical numbers still were unbearable. 

The only improvement over its predecessor is the animation. With a seven-year gap, it was nearly impossible though. Anyway, other than the fact that there isn't much creativity with the penguin designs, overall the animation is beautiful.