快乐的大脚评论.docx

1、快乐的大脚评论Bring in Da Hoofers on IceNew York TimesThe feet in the title of George Millers new film shuffle and stomp with glorious syncopation, but it would be a stretch to call them happy. Small and webbed and clawed, the appendages belong to an animated emperor penguin named Mumble (Elijah Wood) who,

2、 through the wizardry of computer animation, gets his terpsichorean moves from the brilliant tap-dancer Savion Glover. Like Mr. Glover and Eleanor Powell, Mumble was born to dance. Theres a song in his heart if not in his diaphragm, but, strangely, a lot of his tippity tappiting has the urgent pulse

3、 of an S O S. Much like Mr. Millers excellent “Babe: Pig in the City” and his dystopian “Mad Max” trilogy, “Happy Feet” presents a vision of the world seen through a glass darkly. One of the most underrated films of the 1990s, “Pig in the City” was a terrible commercial disappointment, an animal-far

4、m noir that hewed closer in apocalyptic tone and feel to the “Mad Max” films than to its sunnier, much-beloved predecessor, “Babe.” “Happy Feet” is Mr. Millers first film in eight long years, and while compromised by the uplift and affirmation that mainstream animation regurgitates like a mommy peng

5、uin, it also shows a remarkable persistence of vision. Even in a story about singing-and-dancing fat and feather, Mr. Miller cant help but go dark and deep. It takes him a while to get there. First, he must unleash Robin Williams, who gives wacky, at times uneasy voice to several characters, includi

6、ng that of a charming Adlie penguin named Ramon, who sounds more East Los Angeles than Anywhere Antarctica. Having been shunned by the other emperor penguins because he cant sing, Mumble joins a flock of smaller, stubbier Adlie penguins who, when not collecting pebbles, do stand-up. Mr. Williams, wh

7、o these days is better heard than seen, also pours on the molasses as an Rockhopper penguin called Lovelace, who sounds a lot like the singer Barry White, which means hes one of the few so-called black voices in a world that sounds otherwise white as deep winter. That doesnt mean that Mr. Williams i

8、snt funny, only that its discomfiting that so many childrens films depend on voices that are funny only because they exploit ethnic and racial stereotypes. Because penguins look pretty much alike, most of the principals deliver distinctive vocal performances. Nicole Kidman recycles her baby-breathy

9、Marilyn Monroe shtick for Mumbles mother, Norma Jean, while Hugo Weaving sticks a Scottish burr in his throat to play an elder penguin named Noah. For Mumbles father, Memphis, Hugh Jackman throws his voice into the deep-fryer and comes up with something thats a little bit country, a little bit rock

10、n roll. Everyone sounds pretty white except when theyre lip-synching (beak-synching?) the funk and R&B standards on the films playlist. “Happy Feet” is far from the only animated film to lean on stereotype for its comedy: “Over the Hedge” and “Cars” do the same, among many other animated features, a

11、s does, of course, “Borat.” I bring this up only because Mr. Miller brings an unusual depth of feeling to his work as well as a distinct moral worldview. “Happy Feet” is a familiar story about a wee outsider forced to struggle against the usual odds and misguided adults to discover his inner penguin

12、. Yet tucked inside this nominally feel-good jukebox musical with its crooning and swooning critters is a piercingly sad story about the devastation being visited on the natural world. The tapping we hear, as it turns out, is drilling holes in our hearts. For the most part, the screenplay written by

13、 Mr. Miller, Warren Coleman, John Collee and Judy Morris traces a familiar arc. Not long after he happens upon the flock of Adlie penguins, Mumble discovers that alien creatures (guess who?) are scooping all the fish out of the ocean. Determined to right this wrong, he and three others set off on a

14、voyage that includes sweeping images of mountains that recall Mr. Woods high-altitude trekking in “The Lord of the Rings” and brings the travelers face to face with elephant seals with astonishing photorealistic tusklike protuberances. What makes the seals especially beautiful isnt the almost tactil

15、e detail of their crinkles and grooves; its that, unlike Mumble and his vaguely anthropomorphized face, they look insistently and gloriously like animals. Beauty announces itself quietly in “Happy Feet,” whether in the discreetly shifting shades of white that seem to turn the snow into a living, bre

16、athing organism, or in the articulated lines of penguin chicks that make each ball of downy fluff a very specific ball of downy fluff. All this beauty makes it easy to understand why Mumble might want to tap his feet with joy. It also explains why Mr. Miller, after doing an extremely credible approx

17、imation of the wonderful world of Walt Disney, plunges his hapless hero into a nightmare worthy of Samuel Fullers “Shock Corridor.” As politically pointed as it is disturbing, it is a view of hell as seen through the eyes and ears of creatures we foolishly, tragically call dumb. “Happy Feet” is rate

18、d PG (Parental guidance suggested). There are a few scenes of peril that might frighten young children, but its the adults who will probably need the hankies. HAPPY FEET Opens today nationwide. Directed by George Miller; written by Mr. Miller, John Collee, Judy Morris and Warren Coleman; music by Jo

19、hn Powell; choreography by Savion Glover and Kelley Abbey; production designer, Mark Sexton; produced by George Miller, Doug Mitchell and Bill Miller; released by Warner Brothers Pictures. Running time: 100 minutes. WITH THE VOICES OF: Elijah Wood (Mumble), Robin Williams (Ramon/Lovelace the Guru),

20、Brittany Murphy (Gloria), Hugh Jackman (Memphis), Nicole Kidman (Norma Jean), Hugo Weaving (Noah the Elder), Anthony LaPaglia (Alpha Skua), Miriam Margolyes (Mrs. Astrakhan), Magda Szubanski (Miss Viola), Carlos Alazraqui (Nestor), Johnny Sanchez III (Lombardo) and Jeff Garcia (Rinaldo). Correction:

21、 Nov. 28, 2006A film review in Weekend on Nov. 17 about “Happy Feet” referred incorrectly to the character Lovelace. He is a Rockhopper penguin, not an Adlie. Happy Feet Review - The Hollywood Reporter (2006) Bottom Line: Tuneful and soulful in equal measure, this animated all-penguin musical is ter

22、rific fun.The Hollywood Reporter13 November 2006Kirk Honeycutt Happy Feet is an odd bird. Its a CG-animated film with a Dumbo-esque story about an emperor penguin that unlike other penguins cant sing worth a lick but, boy, can he tap dance. Right from the start, though, you are aware that the Austra

23、lian director George Miller and his talented artists are aiming for something more than a charming childrens cartoon.In the barren, hostile Antarctic wilderness where these hardy yet somewhat comical birds make their home, Miller is unafraid to go for what can only be described as a neo-biblical epi

24、c. In his depiction of a plague and a pilgrimage, a God-like penguin appearing in the sky, the portrayal of the storys hero as a prophet rejected by his own kind and even the gospel orientation of several songs, Miller boldly reaches for spiritual themes.Happily, it all works. Miller and his co-writ

25、ers Judy Morris and Warren Coleman plug in enough action sequences - where penguins tumble down towers of ice and frantically escape predators and flee avalanches - to entertain younger viewers. The many musical numbers are brilliantly choreographed and orchestrated through some of the best motion c

26、apture ever employed in a cartoon. And the film often astonishes you with the three-dimensionality of its frozen landscapes. With smart marketing, Warner Bros. Pictures has a solid entertainment that should sweep across many demographics. Nor does it hurt that last years March of the Penguins educat

27、ed so many moviegoers to the extraordinary world of empire penguins.Mumble (Elijah Wood) is a cheerful penguin despite his handicap. But his dad, Memphis (Hugh Jackman), worries, even as he hides the secret of his sons strangeness from his mom, Norma Jean (Nicole Kidman): Memphis accidentally droppe

28、d the egg from its nest within the folds of his feathery flesh during a winter storm. So when Mumble is hatched, he cannot perform his heartsong, the identifying croon peculiar to every penguin to attract a mate. Instead, his webbed feet break out into tap dancing. Mom is delighted, but Dad insists,

29、 It just aint penguin.Singing lessons end in failure, but Mumbles hippity-hoppity ways still attract his childhood friend, Gloria (Brittany Murphy). Then, in his rambling adventures, Mumble runs into a group of Latino penguins, the Adelie Amigos, who convince him that his dancing is actually cool.A

30、drought in the fish supply causes Noah (Hugo Weaving) to interpret this as divine retribution for Mumbles un-penguin ways. When Mumble refuses to change those ways - he has an unshakable sense of who he is - he is forced from the flock and goes on a pilgrimage with the Amigos, led by Ramon and Lovel

31、ace the Guru (both characters voiced by Robin Williams, who also narrates the movie) to find the aliens (i.e. humans) whose overfishing has interrupted the food supply.Miller has made a number of wise choices in how to convey his biblical/penguin tale. The animals heartsong might sound like noise to

32、 human ears, but to a penguin its music. So why not turn Happy Feet into a quasi-musical featuring classic pop songs from disco and Queen to Sinatra, Prince and the Beatles?For the tap dancing, why not go to a virtuoso, Savion Glover, to play Mumble to dazzling effect through motion capture? Choreographer Kelley Abbey works with other dancers in groups so that the screen fills up with thousands of dancing penguins, seemingly with their own distinctive styles.Research expeditions by camera crews to Antarctica result in a highly realisti