It's a great movie, but I must say that I was expecting something a lot different. You see, I was expecting a story. Now it has a story, but I was expecting a different kind of story with characters and names and personalities. I was expecting to see "Bob" and "Mary" Penguin start a family with young "Charlie" Penguin or something. I was expecting the story to follow the lives of an individual set of penguins and show us their individual struggles and triumphs. However, this documentary is not unlike other animal documentaries that you would see on the Discovery Channel or on the IMAX at your city's museum; it is told at the aggregate level (e.g., "the penguins huddle together to keep warm", "the males watch over the eggs while the females return for food", etc). So I was a bit disappointed at the lack of intimacy with individual penguins. In short, I know now a lot about penguins in general, but don't feel like I know any particular penguins personally.

The movie's strong suit is its ability to teach and to inform as well as its excellent footage of a land (Antarctica) upon which hardly anyone has set foot (and for good reason given the barren, freezing climate). Going in, I only knew the basics about penguins (that they waddle when they walk, that they look like they are wearing tuxedos, that they eat fish, and that they live on the South pole). However, coming out, I feel like I know all there is to know about penguins, their struggle for survival in the harshest of climates, and their yearly "March" towards breeding grounds.

Although I was disappointed in the fact that the movie stayed very aloof without much storytelling, my daughter loved the movie. She soaked up all of the information on penguins like a sponge. However, it did not keep either one of us on the edge of our seats but rather made us both quite sleepy. My daughter remarked afterwards about how there wasn't much excitement (such as your typical Hollywood explosions or car chases) in the film...just lots of great footage about penguins. And for their part, penguins don't live very "exciting" lives. The fathers, for instance, must keep watch over the eggs before they hatch by balancing them on their feet and keeping them warm with their bellies. They will stand there, balancing the egg on their feet, for weeks. No food, no going anywhere, no adventures, no nothing...just standing and trying to keep their egg and themselves from freezing to death. So you can imagine how sitting in a dark theater in a comfortable, ergonomic chair while watching something that is more educational than inspirational or stimulational (I try) can make one feel like dozing off.

However, if you are able to stay awake, you will be richly rewarded with the sights and sounds of these peculiar creatures acting out their strange habits while living in their natural habitats. Thus, you will see and experience something that in all likelihood you never would in person, and you'll learn a little something too.

If you're looking for education, and not necessarily stimulation, then this one is definitely worth a gander, er, Emperor Penguin, that is.