Have you ever wanted to watch penguins dancing romantically to REO Speedwagon? If so, this is for you.

This was (mostly) a fun little documentary from Disneynature. At 76 minutes in length, it moved pretty fast. It often made me smile or laugh, and featured really good use of music. I'll forever think of an awkward penguin called Steve when I hear Whitesnake in future.

The whole documentary is centered around our mate Steve. He always seemed to be late to wherever he was going - including the birth of his kids. In some ways, I could relate to Steve a bit too much.

Whether it be 100 mile round trips for food, or annoying neighbours stealing precious rocks - Penguins shows the life of a penguin is really damn hard. I couldn't help but feel bigger picture stuff going on - with life itself feeling like a tumultuous ice flow filled with problematic leopard seals at every turn. No, just me?

Ed Helms was annoying as narrator at times - it took a little adjusting to once he began voicing the penguins themselves. And if I had kids? I probably wouldn't show them this until a certain age. There was some scary, anxiety-inducing events in parts. Such is life.

For Earth Day, Disney Channel decided to air this year-old movie, and I am so glad they did. Penguins is the most adorable movie I have ever seen.

The documentary is narrated by Ed Helms(Stew from The Hangover),who shows us the life of Steve, a cute penguin who learns how to survive the harsh cold of Antarctica, and how he leaves his family to start his own.

There is one thing I must give the film credit for, and that's how much it made me love penguins. I've seen March of the Penguins, Happy Feet, and I grew up on a video series called 321 Penguins, and no other movie has made me love the animal more. This literally made penguins my favorite animal.

From a film-making standpoint, Penguins is glorious. This is all natural, no sets or anything. This is actual Antarctica, with actual penguins, actually waddling over God's Green Earth. The look is beautiful, and stunning as a result.

As a documentary, this is very educational. For example, before watching this, I never knew that penguins shed into being black and white. This process is called molting. If you love learning new facts about animals, then Penguins should be on your radar.

Simply watching the penguins is precious as well. Whether they are playing, waddling, or feeding their young, witnessing everyday life for a penguin made me beam bright. That's why I consider this to be so adorable.

There is even a scene where an egg hatches and we see life for a baby penguin begin. This was the most precious scene., and it was hands down the best one for me. I nearly cried with awe at that point.

For parents, you may want to be consider your child's age before showing them this. Really young kids(like toddlers) will most likely find this to a bore, and sensitive kids will be upset at predators quickly eating members Steve's family near the end.

This is quick and not graphic. As this a G rated movie from Disney, this won't be like watching Jaws. but kids may get upset at this after falling in love with these creatures. Even I was a little shaken at the sight of this for that reason, and I am 21 years old.

If I had to critique one thing about it, my one teeny tiny flaw would be that some scenes have no narration, and watching it in the dark made me nearly fall asleep. So, don't watch this too late or if you are tired. However, there is a positive with this as well, as the action tells a story within itself, which is sweet too.

I also couldn't help but notice that Ed Helms narrated this, and Morgan Freeman narrated March of the Penguins. Both of these stars were in Evan Almighty. To any directors reading this. if Steve Carell does a penguin documentary, my life will be complete.

Penguins is also evidence on the necessity of film as an entertainment medium. This is a story that could not be told on paper. The connection we have with Steve must be seen, not read or heard.

In short, Penguins gets my highest recommendation for animal lovers, anyone who wants to learn something new, or anyone wanting a sweet way to pass 76 minutes. The setting for Penguins may be freezing, but the movie itself is sure to warm your heart.

2019's 'Penguins' had real potential of being great and had all the ingredients to be. Reasons for wanting to see it were quite a few. One being my undying lifelong love for Disney. Another being my every bit as strong love for penguins, probably along with seals my favourite animal. The DisneyNature documentaries are interesting, even if the quality has varied. With wonderful ones such as 'Earth' and 'Oceans', and also a couple that underwhelmed like 'Elephant' and 'Born in China'.

'Penguins' is not up there among the best DisneyNature documentaries. It is also not one of the worst. Personally put it somewhere in the middle along with 'Monkey Kingdom'. Actually saw this not long after seeing 'Snow Chick: A Penguin's Tale' and when comparing briefly the two, there is no question as to which is the better one of the two. That sounds like 'Penguins' is bad. It isn't. There is actually a lot to like here, but one big thing in particular jarred the brought things down.

Lets start mentioning the good things. 'Penguins' looks gorgeous for one thing and it is mainly the quality of the visuals that make it worth seeing. The scenery is absolutely spectacular, while being a lot more than cute penguins in beautiful environments. The environments are indeed breathtakingly beautiful but they are also suitably cruel and unforgiving, there are times without being too dark where 'Penguins' does show that penguins do have difficulties in their habitats. This is all enhanced by the cinematic-worthy photography. Some of the music has a nice atmosphere and is appealing in instrumentation.

Steve is a very entertaining and likeable penguin that is always worth rooting for every step of the way in all the stages of his journey, not coming over as too humanised. In fact all the penguins are immensely engaging and it is hard to not feel anything for them, cheer for them, cry for them and admire any accomplishments. 'Penguins' is full of charm and entertainment value, plus very cute without being sickly, and while it didn't emotionally connect with me quite as much as 'Snow Chick: A Penguin's Tale' for example there are affecting parts. Some of the narration intrigues and informs.

Most of the time however, the narration didn't do an awful lot for me. Like other DisneyNature documentaries, its writing did try too hard to appeal to younger audiences and ended up being too childish and over-simplified. It also tried to inject some humour intended to lighten the mood, but this came over as clumsy and over-silly. Ed Helms' delivery added to the problem, too much of it is too over-eager and can talk down to the audience.

While not near as much of a problem, for my tastes some of 'Penguins' was a little too over-scored in mood and placement.

In conclusion, mostly enjoyed it but would have loved it if the narration didn't jar as much. 7/10