Surf's Up (2007)

"A winner is someone who doesn't knock me off my surfboard.", 29 March 2008

In our house, we're trying to turn Friday night into Family Movie Night. For our first FMN, my son picked Surf's Up. Both he and my wife had seen the movie and thought I would enjoy it. I admit, I went into it expecting the absolute worst. But maybe the family knows a little about what will appeal to me, because I found Surf's Up to be fun little movie with a message worth taking to heart.

Surf's Up tells the story of Cody Maverick, a young penguin living in Antarctica who dreams of being a champion surfer. He wants to be like his idol, Big Z, who mysteriously disappeared during a surfing contest 10 years ago. Cody gets his big chance one day when a talent scout comes to his home looking for surfers. Cody's off to take part in the Big Z Memorial Surf Off. But on the way, Cody meets a down and out beach bum who teaches him that life is about more than trophies.

Overall, I quite enjoyed Surf's Up. The movie is told as a behind the scenes surfing documentary. I was worried that this might get "gimmicky" before the end, but it worked throughout. The animation was quite good. I appreciated the little touches like the illusion of a hand held camera or the water splashing on the lens during the surfing scenes. The actors behind the characters were all wonderful. The standout for me was James Woods as a Don King-wannabe sea otter named Reggie. Hysterical! In fact, the whole movie is funny and well paced with few, if any, overly long dull moments. The accompanying soundtrack is rock solid. I may have to look into picking it up. Finally, with a lot of these family movies, the filmmakers seem intent on beating the viewer over the head with a message that I often find questionable at best. That's not the case with Surf's Up. A message that includes the notion that winning isn't everything and life's too short not to sit back and enjoy it with your family and friends is a message worth living.

7/10