Happy Feet; wonderful but odd

We took the girlies to see Happy Feet last week. I'd heard many reports that it's brilliant and beautiful, and some that it was weird and too adult. So I was expecting it to be good fun with maybe a weird moment or two.

For at least the first half I was thinking "this is wonderful!" I was getting emotional and caught up and anxious, the way great movies always make me feel. I loved the whole concept; creatures so emotive and emotionally free that they each have their own "heart song" with which they attract and find their soul mate. The characters are beautiful and endearing (except the nasty ones of course!) and I felt swept away in their story. I wasn't even bothered by Robin Williams, of whom I usually think ooh clever! Robin Williams playing Robin Williams!

There was a sequence where the characters are swept up in joy and fun and they're swimming their hearts out and feeling adventurous and all that good stuff, and I was thinking "this is the best film I've watched since Dead Man's Chest" (I know, very odd thing to think at that moment, but there you are.)

And then, the weirdness began. The story suddenly changed dramatically and there was a whole new world (that of humans) jarringly introduced, followed by a new, remarkably implausible, journey which, of course, leads to the salvation of penguinkind and a lesson for all viewers about the dangers of global warming and pollution.

A few minutes after the sudden change of dynamic I was literally sitting in my cinema seat with an odd, confused look stuck to my face (and we were in the front row so my odd, confused look was facing the screen almost vertically - an attractive thought, I know) and thinking "what the?"

"What the?" didn't leave my thoughts. The film ended on a What the?. A very nice cosy feeling-happy what the?, but a what the? nonetheless.

Still worth watching though. Like I said the characters and concept are beautiful and more than make up for the odd-ness.

Oh, and one's 4-year-old attempting a tap-dance in the foyer after the movie always add to the good experience too... she's so cute... *silly mothery grin*