Happy Ft Two

'Happy Ft Two'A Warner Bros. (in U.S.) release presented in colaboration with Village Roadshow Pictures of the Kennedy Burns Mitchell production with Dr. D. Galleries. Created by Doug Mitchell, George Burns, Bill Burns. Executive producers, Chris deFaria, Philip Hearnshaw, Graham Burke, Bruce Berman. Co-producer, Martin Wood. Directed by George Burns. Co-company directors, David Peers, Gary Eck. Script, Burns, Eck, Warren Coleman, Paul Livingston.Voices: Mumble - Elijah Wood Ramon/Lovelace - Robin Williams The Mighty Sven - Hank Azaria Gloria - Alecia Moore (Pink) Will the Krill - Kaira Pitt Bill the Krill - Matt Damon The wondrously eccentric, eco-conscious sensibility George Burns introduced to his 2006 penguin-designed toon yields a very less amazing Antarctic adventure in "Happy Ft Two." Although it maintains the buoyant musical stylings and splendid pictures that made its predecessor so distinctive, this chatterbox of the follow up manages to lose its way having a raft of annoying side figures that the slender narrative framework provides way too indulgent a showcase. The result feels nearer to the antic, fast-speaking type of much contempo animation will not always keep Warners from achieving another family-friendly holiday hit, and three dimensional ticket taxes should help combat less-than-glowing response. Considering the fact that any follow-as much as the Oscar-winning "Happy Ft" could be challenged to support the quality of their penguins-and-pop concept or even the chastening impact of their environment styles, it had been possibly shrewd of coming back scribes Burns and Warren Coleman (joining with scenarists Gary Eck and Paul Livingston) to lessen their ambitions here. "Happy Ft Two" is nine minutes shorter than its predecessor and, absent the feeling of showmanship given by its stunning three dimensional imagery and genre-spanning soundtrack, its relatively bare-bones story would appear appropriate for any direct-to-video quickie compared to a bigscreen outing. Doing little to counter this belief may be the script's abundance of kid-friendly existence training, many of them distributed by tap-dancing emperor penguin Mumble (again well voiced by Elijah Wood) for the advantage of his youthful chick, Erik (Ava Acres). Just as much a musical misfit as his father was not so long ago, klutzy Erik humiliates themself throughout among the penguins' conformist group medleys and goes out at home. While Mumble heads to finds his boy, an enormous ice-shelf collapse traps the relaxation from the rookery within an enormous gorge. What develops is less a legendary adventure than a long problem-fixing exercise by which Mumble and Erik make an effort to free their community, while Mumble's sweet-voiced spouse, Gloria (Alecia Moore, also known as R&B star Pink, changing the late Brittany Murphy), does her better to maintain calm lower below. The save mission, alas, can succeed only by using buddies from neighboring Adelie Land, who conspire to show "Happy Ft Two" right into a wearying parade of foreign accents and showboating vocal turns. The standout here's Anthony LaPaglia, oozing Cockney menace like a surly elephant seal another thesps generally place their boisterous cues from Robin Williams, again doing dual purpose as Latin-lover type Ramon and crazy guru Lovelace. Particularly irritating are Will and Bill the krill (Kaira Pitt, Matt Damon), a loud, wisecracking crustacean duo stuck inside a parallel story that plays like a lot underwater filler. The space between visual and verbal sophistication could scarcely become more pronounced here, because the krill's gently speckled physiques rate one of the film's most intricate, photorealistic masterpieces. After which there is the Mighty Sven (Hank Azaria), an itinerant Swedish puffin using the show-off charisma of the revival-tent preacher. Accordingly, Burns and co-company directors David Peers and Eck sometimes push the musical amounts toward the beneficial levels of the secular gospel service, a strategy that actually works insofar because the film's episodic subplots actually illustrate some easily digestible morals: If kids have not yet understood that bullying isn't good, being different is alright, as well as the littlest being can shape the fortunes of, be assured that "Happy Ft Two" leaves little room for doubt. The uninhibited musical sensibility remains admirable and infectious as the soundtrack might have done without such viral head aches as "Never Gonna Provide You With Up" and "Dragostea Din Tei," you will find wealthy settlements in Moore's soulful performance of "Bridge of sunshine,Inch a soaring anthem of hope bathed within the glow from the northern lights, along with a climactic setpiece that reps possibly the very best motion picture utilization of Full and David Bowie's "PressurizedInch since "Grosse Pointe Blank." During these moments, the film reaches for that sublime and from time to time accomplishes it, though nearly every such instance is immediately then an area of dialogue-heavy down time. Overall, what "Happy Ft Two" needs much more of is silence, a feeling of hushed tranquility that will permit the viewer to contemplate the regal great thing about this frozen world and also the horror of their potential extinction. Once more, Burns and the crew prowl these spectacular, forever varied landscapes by having an remarkable eye for detail, the swooping camera and fluid cutting mixing to create thrilling changes in scale and perspective the immersive effect is further enhanced by artful, inconspicuous (otherwise entirely essential) three dimensional. The motion-capture rendering from the penguins' actions is really as precise and realistic as always, although the periodic interpolation of live-action human figures, used so hauntingly within the first film, is repeated less effectively here.Camera (Technicolor, widescreen, three dimensional), Peers, David Dulac editor, Christian Gazal music, John Powell music supervisor, Kim Eco-friendly production designer/art director, David Nelson set designer, Mark Sexton animation director, Take advantage of Coleman supervisory seem editor/seem designer (Dolby Digital/Datasat/SDDS), Wayne Pashley re-recording mixers, Paul Massey, Phil Heywood, Peter Cruz choreographers, Wade Robson, Dein Perry, Kate Wormald visual effects supervisor, Dulac visual effects, stereoscopic supervisor, Jason Fairley casting, Kristy Carlson. Examined at Warner Bros. Galleries, Burbank, November. 9, 2011. MPAA Rating: PG. Running time: 99 MIN.With: Sofia Vergara, Common, Hugo Weaving, Richard Carter, Magda Szubanski, Anthony LaPaglia, Benjamin "Lil P-Nut" Flores Junior., Ava Acres, Meibh Campbell. Contact Justin Chang at justin.chang@variety.com