Your feelings about this film will, of course, depend on what you're looking for. If you want a cute movie with some beautiful footage that tells a nice story about penguins, then you won't be disappointed.
But if you're of a more critical inclination, without much taste for saccharine and simplicity, then you might find yourself a little annoyed by Morgan Freeman's narration in this film.
The English version of the narration, at least, serves to anthropomorphize the penguins' ordeals at every turn. This may make the "story" accessible to a broader audience, but to me, at least, it came off as condescending and manipulative. For example, Freeman sagely explains that the father penguin feels remorse when it has to leave its chick for the first time. How can we know what the penguins feel? This tactic of imposing human emotions onto the penguins is employed, to ill effect, throughout the film. I think it may have been better to stick to facts, and to state so explicitly when statements are speculation (like how the penguins are feeling).
There were also points when the film was emotionally manipulative. (I know, pretty much every film is emotionally manipulative.) For example, the seal is presented as the ravenous villain, whereas we are used to having seals depicted as charismatic and lovable. What, seals are carnivores? I thought they were those cute little creatures always getting chased around by those big bad killer whales. My point is that things are not simple, and that it seems disingenuous, even deceptive to depict complex, mysterious things as simple in order to make them appealing.
My fundamental reservations aside, the footage is great and the story is well told for what it is.
But if you're of a more critical inclination, without much taste for saccharine and simplicity, then you might find yourself a little annoyed by Morgan Freeman's narration in this film.
The English version of the narration, at least, serves to anthropomorphize the penguins' ordeals at every turn. This may make the "story" accessible to a broader audience, but to me, at least, it came off as condescending and manipulative. For example, Freeman sagely explains that the father penguin feels remorse when it has to leave its chick for the first time. How can we know what the penguins feel? This tactic of imposing human emotions onto the penguins is employed, to ill effect, throughout the film. I think it may have been better to stick to facts, and to state so explicitly when statements are speculation (like how the penguins are feeling).
There were also points when the film was emotionally manipulative. (I know, pretty much every film is emotionally manipulative.) For example, the seal is presented as the ravenous villain, whereas we are used to having seals depicted as charismatic and lovable. What, seals are carnivores? I thought they were those cute little creatures always getting chased around by those big bad killer whales. My point is that things are not simple, and that it seems disingenuous, even deceptive to depict complex, mysterious things as simple in order to make them appealing.
My fundamental reservations aside, the footage is great and the story is well told for what it is.
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