In theaters

HAPPY FEET, directed by George Miller, written by Miller, John Collee, Judy Morris and Warren Coleman, 100 minutes, rated PG.

Its rushed ending aside, there is plenty to recommend in the otherwise excellent computer-animated movie “Happy Feet.”

The film, which George Miller (“Babe,” “The Witches of Eastwick,” “Mad Max”) based on a script he co-wrote with John Collee, Judy Morris and Warren Coleman, seamlessly interweaves several compelling storylines, from the light and the pleasant to the downright dark and unpleasant.

The film balances moments of entertaining song-and-dance numbers and expertly conceived action sequences with themes of isolation, rejection, bullying and the need for self-acceptance. In addition to this is an ecological undercurrent that becomes dire as the story unfolds.

The movie begins with a sequence that recalls a scene from “March of the Penguins” – a male penguin is trying to protect his and his mate’s egg when he accidentally allows it to touch the Antarctic ice sheet.

Quickly, the penguin, whose name is Memphis (voice of Hugh Jackman, channeling Elvis), recovers, tucking the egg safely between his feet and a warm roll of his flesh. But when the egg hatches, out comes Mumble (Elijah Wood), who can dance up a storm (thanks to Savion Glover, whose moves are transposed to Mumble via some clever computer work), but who can’t sing, which is what all penguins must do in order to find a mate and, it turns out, in order to fit in.

Ostracized by his peers, his love interest, Gloria (Brittany Murphy), his father and in part by his mother, Norma Jean (Nicole Kidman, channeling Marilyn Monroe), Mumble has no choice but to wander alone into the world at large. There, he meets up with a group of Latino penguins (Robin Williams among them) who like him just the way he is while the story takes a darker turn into the waters around them.

Within that watery deep are no fish. Killer whales and ferocious seals abound (and attack), but the fish have disappeared. Where are they? When Mumble and his punchy posse decide to find out with the help of another penguin, Lovelace (Williams again), who slowly is being suffocated to death by the plastic beverage holder pinching his neck, it sets the movie on an unpredictable course that can be harrowing.

This is the unusual kids movie that doesn’t dumb down its story for its intended audience of tots – there isn’t one cheap toilet joke in the movie. It’s here to entertain them, yes, but it also respects them. It’s designed to encourage them to consider their place in the global community and how they might affect it, for better or worse, with their own actions toward their peers and the environment.

For that reason alone, “Happy Feet” is a welcome presence in theaters. Its ending seems oddly unfinished, but the rest of the movie is so good, it overcomes it. It features the year’s best animation, the humor is bright and clever when it needs to be, and the scenes of terror overwhelm when they must.

Grade: A-

On DVD

SUPERMAN RETURNS, directed by Bryan Singer, written by Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris, 157 minutes, rated PG-13.

Some might wonder why the old bird bothered.

“Superman Returns” fails to achieve the greatness of last year’s “Batman Begins,” or, for that matter, its famed 1978 predecessor, “Superman,” which starred Christopher Reeve and a wonderfully combative Margot Kidder as Lois Lane. “Returns” is a glossy, special effects-heavy movie, for sure, and it has a few sparks, but missing from it is the sense of fun, danger and sustained energy it needed to fully entertain. The film is too dry and serious, lacking in tension and imagination.

From director Bryan Singer (“X-Men,” “X-Men 2”), the movie stars newcomer Brandon Routh as the Man of Steel. Routh is likable enough, possessing the requisite cleft chin, pecs and strong jaw, but in this film, he is reduced to a prop, a man better designed for photography than for delivering feeling and personality.

In the movie, Kevin Spacey’s Lex Luthor is attempting to murder millions when he steals those infamous crystals from Superman’s arctic retreat and employs them (along with some stolen Kryptonite) to change the Atlantic Ocean into some rather spiky, toxic real estate that will gobble up the Northern Hemisphere.

Naturally, Superman tries to thwart Luthor’s efforts, which is difficult to do because of the Kryptonite, but also because he’s preoccupied with thoughts of Lois (Kate Bosworth), who has moved on since the last time he saw her five years ago, when he left without a word in search of what might be left of his home planet.

Now, back on the job as Clark Kent at the Daily Planet, he finds that Lois has won a Pulitzer Prize for her editorial, “Why the World Doesn’t Need Superman,” she has a 5-year-old son named Jason (Tristan Lake Leabu), and her fiancee, Richard (James Marsden), is the nephew of Daily Planet editor Perry White (Frank Langella).

So, yes, things are strained between them, which would have been a swell development had Routh or Bosworth possessed something close to chemistry. They don’t, which makes you long for the days of Reeve and Kidder, who had that indefinable “It” that helped to turn their movie into a modern-day classic.

With Parker Posey in a nice but underused turn as Luthor’s flighty girlfriend, Eva Marie Saint just right as Superman’s mother and Sam Huntington as Jimmy Olsen, “Superman Returns” does a fine job assembling all of the familiar parts. But in the end, when you add up all the missed opportunities over the course of its 157-minute running time, the idea that Superman has returned isn’t enough.

Grade: C+

Visit www.weekinrewind.com, the archive of Bangor Daily News film critic Christopher Smith’s reviews, which appear Mondays in Discovering, Fridays in Happening, and Weekends in Television. He may be reached at Christopher@weekinrewind.com.

Currently in theaters

Christopher Smith’s grades for the newest releases are in bold print.

The Black Dahlia -C-

Babel – A-

Borat – B+

Casino Royale – A

Crank – B+

The Departed – A

Employee of the Month – C

Flags of Our Fathers – B+

Flushed Away – B+

Flyboys – C-

A Good Year – C-

The Grudge 2 – D-

Happy Feet – A-

Hollywoodland – C

The Illusionist – B+

Invincible – A

Jackass Number Two – B

Lady In The Water – D+

Little Miss Sunshine – B+

The Marine – C+

Miami Vice – C

My Super Ex-Girlfriend – A-

Open Season – B

Over The Hedge – B

The Prestige – B+

Pulse – D+

The Queen – A-

Saw III – F

Snakes On A Plane – A-

Step Up – C+

Superman Returns – C+

World Trade Center – A

The Video-DVD Corner

Renting a video or a DVD? BDN film critic Christopher Smith can help. Below are his grades of recent releases in video stores. Those in bold print are new to video stores this week.

Akeelah and the Bee – B+

Alias: Complete Fifth Season – C+

American Dreamz – D-

The Ant Bully – B+

ATL – B-

Basic Instinct 2 – D+

Behind Enemy Lines: Blu-Ray – C-

The Benchwarmers – D

Big Momma’s House 2 – D

Breakfast on Pluto – B

The Break-Up – B

Brokeback Mountain – A

Broken Trail – B

Cars – C

Cheaper by the Dozen 2 – C-

Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – A

Clerks II – B+

Click – C-

The Constant Gardener – A-

Curious George – B

Date Movie – D-

The Da Vinci Code – C+

Derailed – C+

Double Indemnity – A

Failure to Launch – C-

The Family Stone – D

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift – B

Freedomland – C-

Friends with Money – B

Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties – C+

The Golden Girls: Complete Sixth Season – A-

The Hills Have Eyes – D

A History of Violence – A

How Art Made the World – A

Howl’s Moving Castle – A-

Inside Man – B+

Junebug – A

Kingdom Of Heaven: Director’s Cut (Blu-Ray) – B-

Kinky Boots – B+

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang – B+

Last Holiday – B

The Libertine – D

Lucky Number Slevin – B

The Matador – B+

Match Point – A

Mission Impossible III – C-

Monster House – B+

Munich – A-

Nacho Libre – C

North Country – C

The Omen – B-

Over the Hedge – B

Paradise Now – A-

Poseidon – B

A Prairie Home Companion – C

Red Eye – B+

Rumor Has It – C-

Saving Shiloh – B

Scary Movie 4 – D+

The Shaggy Dog – C-

Shakespeare Behind Bars – A-

16 Blocks – B

The Squid and the Whale – B+

Slither – B

Stay Alive – D-

Superman Returns -C+

Take the Lead – C-

Transamerica – B

United 93 – A

V for Vendetta – B+

X-Men: The Last Stand (Blu-Ray) – B-

You, Me and Dupree – C-