Happy Feet 2: SF Gate Review

The penguins are as adorable as ever in “Happy Feet Two.” Yet a couple of shrimp-like krill at the bottom of the food chain almost steal the show in this animated sequel that sticks to the formula of the original while adding enough variety to give it a life of its own.

It helps to have Brad Pitt and Matt Damon voicing the krill with great energy and companionability as they join a vocal cast that includes returning stars Elijah Wood and Robin Williams.

Director and co-writer George Miller, who handled the same chores on the 2006 Academy Award-winning first film, keeps the focus on penguins in peril while adding an interesting nature-in-perspective angle with the side journey of those tiny krill trying to find their place in a world of bigger, hungrier things.

The sequel delivers the key ingredients that made its predecessor such a hit: lovable characters that audiences young and old will want to follow. A rich blend of pop tunes employed in show-stopping song-and-dance numbers. Remarkable photo-realistic Antarctic landscapes whose bleak beauty pops off the screen even more than in the original, thanks to some of the finest use of 3-D animation since the digital age brought an extra dimension to the screen.

Read more. Spoiler alert. Positive review. Thanks Jamie.