Happy Feet/Curse of the Golden Flower

I'm catching up with some films I missed in theaters that got Oscar nominations. The winner of the Best Animated film award, Happy Feet, is an odd enterprise. Whatever charm it has (which is small) is overwhelmed by do-gooder sentiment. The tale of a penguin who likes to dance rather than sing, we get a double-barrelled message of "be yourself," and don't mess with the food chain. These are admirable sentiments, but this film is just too drippy with them.

I was also bugged by the soundtrack peppered with pop hits. In the opening sequence, in which the penguins find a mate by singing, it sounds as if a jukebox exploded. You may find yourself playing Name That Tune rather than be dazzled by the animation, which I'll admit is quite impressive.

Finally, did we really need Robin Williams to voice two characters? One is usually way too many.

Zhang Yimou is a director who really knows to how to use color. From Raise the Red Lantern to Red Sorghum to Hero to House of the Flying Daggers, one walks out of the theater after being saturated in rich, opulent color. This is also true in The Curse of the Golden Flower, the third straight Zhang film set in medieval China.

The story is redolent of Shakespeare, or perhaps even more of Lion in Winter: a monarch and his scheming wife, and three sons vying for the throne. Unlike Lion in Winter, though, which had a contemporary snap to the dialogue. Curse is much more formal, without a whiff of humor. Chow-Yun Fat gives an imposing performance as the Emperor, who is slowly poisoning his consort, Gong Li. There are three sons. The oldest, who was born to Fat's first wife, is secretly diddling his step-mother. The second is a warrior, and the third is meek but fiendish. Each has secrets which will result in mass carnage.

As with Hero and Daggers, there is spectacularly choreographed fights, and even though I've seen a few of these films now, they still take the breath away. Gong Li ably inhabits a character who resembles both Cleopatra and Lady MacBeth, while pop-star Jay Chou struggles with the warrior son role.

While a feast for the eye, Curse of the Golden Flower does sag a bit in spots, and is not suggested for viewing while tired.