Happy Feet Two

We had a Cars sequel this year and now is the sequel to the film that beat back that film for the Oscar. It is Happy Feet I'm talking about, its sequel being Happy Feet Two.

Mumble the dancing penguin (Elijah Wood) and his mate Gloria (Pink, replacing the late Brittney Murphy) have a son named Erik (Ava Acres). Erik, like Mumble in the first film, has a lot of self-doubt. So dear old dad sets forth to make sure Erik stands strong.

But wait? Who should come along? Why, it's the plot!

Their Penguin Colony is sealed off by some errant icebergs. Only Mumble and Erik can get their fellow ice dwellers to join forces and dig the penguins free. Meanwhile, two Krill named Will and Bill (Brad Pitt and Matt Damon) decide to have their own misadventures while the Penguins do their thing.

Available as both a flatscreen and a 3D attraction, this sequel is once again supervised by director George Miller. Miller definitely made this with 3D in mind. The dancing penguins, swimming krill and some drifting snow provide some of the most visual of the visual highlights. For flatscreen goers, this translates into a nifty picture nevertheless.

But what about the plot? The initial story involving Erik is quite under-emphasized. It does start off good in the beginning, but several subplots later, it's just there. Among the subplots, we do have the Krill, who could've easily been the stars of their own film. At least the subplot with Sven (Hank Azaria), the "flying penguin," went somewhere good.

If there was some more cohesion, this'd be worthy of taking another Oscar. It's still memorable in its own right, but not as good as the first.

At least in either format, you'll get an amusing Sylvester and Tweety cartoon starring the late Mel Blanc. That was truly the best part of the movie.