Richii

Bren's work had a sponsorship tie-up with Happy Feet Two, so we scored a bunch of free tickets. Given my biggest issue with cinema these days is how much it costs just to walk in the door I figured it was hard to refuse the offer! Even better, free popcorn and drinks for all (easily another $87 worth at cinema prices!)

We did fall foul of my second biggest complaint - the fact that every single film now just has to be in 3D.

I wear glasses. Having to wear another pair of glasses on top of my prescription ones doesn't make for a comfortable movie watching experience.

Also, why? There really wasn't any part of the movie that was begging for 3D effects to better involve the audience or tell the story. It's just there because they can (oh, and so the cinemas can charge an extra couple of bucks per ticket - see gripe one). Showing the movie in good ol' 2D wouldn't have made any difference except for a bighter image and less eye strain.

Anyway - to the movie...

Honestly, they could have not bothered. I'm sure it will be a commercial success. Maybe. Just looked up the stats, and the estimated production cost was $130M, and so far it has grossed just over $43M in the US. A little more to go there... but holidays are coming up, and I guess it'll do pretty well on DVD release. I digress!

Anyway, out of that $130 million, how about not spending the extra cash on the useless 3D eye candy, and flicking a few bucks out to some writers to develop a good script? The fancy visuals can help tell the story, but can't make up for not having an engaging plot. Likewise, no matter how talented the actors (and there are some great one in the cast!), brilliant delivery can only go so far to cover up an awful line.

That said, there is some great writing, but it's all for the two krill, Bill and Will. Voiced by Matt Damon and Brad Pitt, these two steal the show. Easily the best performances in the whole movie.

My escorts for the event, aged ten and eleven, said it was better than the original Happy Feet. That's not great praise, as they then went to explain how boring they thought the first one was. I guess younger kids might like it as a rainy day DVD option. If you're looking for something worth of a cinema trip then I'd keep looking.