March of the Penguins

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What Marche de L'Empereur has to recommend: cute animals; a well-crafted soundtrack; a spectacular environment as beautiful as it is hostile.

Degrading all this are overly sentimental tones and a commentary (by Morgan Freeman) that superfluously anthropomorphizes the penguins, their predators, even the weather and darkness.

While it's extremely satisfying to imagine Hollywood suits falling over themselves trying to make more sympathetic animal documentaries in the wake of this summer's blockbuster abortions, ultimately March of the Penguins is a only a big screen version of a Lorne Green wilderness TV series.

Reader Reviews and Comments

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I have to agree with you.

I'm a penguin freak, to the point of going penguin watching on my honeymoon last year, so I was really excited about this flick.

It was decent, but it just didn't sit right. The facts are amazing, the journey is incredible... but that untouchable "je ne sais quoi" is missing...

If you're all about seeing a bird flick, I highly recommend The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill. It's about an eccentric in San Francisco who cares for an accidental flock of tropical parrots ... fantastic documentary.

Posted by: Lily Dustbin at September 25, 2005 5:33 PM

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