DisneyNature's latest documentary focusing on the lives of penguins in the Arctic is cute if not a little too simplistic. DisneyNature has been around for several years now bringing out film after film focusing on the wildlife of our little blue planet with the simple goal of informing, entertaining and donating to important causes to protect the creatures that roam this earth.
Penguins is their latest documentary and is fun and charming, detailing the life of a single penguin in great detail. The film is obviously aimed for younger audiences and simply a way of showing penguins doing cute things. The narration from Ed Helms hammers this point home for sure with much of his delivery being extremely whimsical and at times childish.
The film does a good job of documenting little Steve's journey in the harsh landscape showing off all the trials and tribulations he has to face without going over a G rating of course. It's fun watching him scuttle around the icy landscape and it's rather cute. However, this can only entertain for so long before it becomes monotonous and the constant narration from Ed Helms gets tiresome and it's charm wares off fast.
Sometimes I wondered while watching, what sort of direction Ed Helms was given in the recording booth, because sometimes he feels completely lost and it often feels like just rambling. But perhaps this is a minor complaint overall. There's nothing wrong with this and the point of the film is still the same. It's a simple story and simple subject with beautiful shots of the icy landscape, but it doesn't tell me really anything new and perhaps that's the films biggest problem.
The film shows you the life of this penguin and his group, but doesn't give out any new information that we haven't already seen or perhaps heard of in other similar penguin related documentaries. Which this is fine, but I would have liked something a little more deeper.
Penguins in a perfectly fine documentary with some interesting tidbits and wonderful cinematography that should entertain younger viewers, but doesn't add anything new. It is however a film with an important message and cause, by showing us the importance of these little creatures down south and I can't fault the film or judge too harshly for doing something that I think is worthwhile in the end.
