Happy Feet
Dr. Wife and I went to see Happy Feet yesterday afternoon. We showed up a little late and missed the first couple of minutes. I hate it when that happens, and my opinion of the movie might be affected by this minor frustration. That having been said, I don't see what the fuss is about. The animation was good, but not a huge improvement over previous computer-animated features. I thought the story was dopey.
The music, which is supposed to be a big part of the movie, was tedious. It was mostly of a genre that I don't particularly like, and I had a lot of trouble understanding the lyrics. Those that I could understand were sappy and devoid of poetic cleverness.
The dancing ... well, it was mostly auditory. The penguins' feet didn't move noticeably enough to create a clear correlation between the motions and the sounds; penguins' legs just aren't very mobile or expressive. I have this problem with live tap, too, unless I'm very close to the dancers: in order to achieve fast, intricate rhythms, the feet can't stray too far from the floor, and the motions are very fast and very small. But even closing my eyes, I found the sound to be muddy enough that the rhythms of the dancing were not all that captivating.
The scenery was often breathtaking, but I could just go watch March of the Penguins again.
The music, which is supposed to be a big part of the movie, was tedious. It was mostly of a genre that I don't particularly like, and I had a lot of trouble understanding the lyrics. Those that I could understand were sappy and devoid of poetic cleverness.
The dancing ... well, it was mostly auditory. The penguins' feet didn't move noticeably enough to create a clear correlation between the motions and the sounds; penguins' legs just aren't very mobile or expressive. I have this problem with live tap, too, unless I'm very close to the dancers: in order to achieve fast, intricate rhythms, the feet can't stray too far from the floor, and the motions are very fast and very small. But even closing my eyes, I found the sound to be muddy enough that the rhythms of the dancing were not all that captivating.
The scenery was often breathtaking, but I could just go watch March of the Penguins again.