Surf's Up! - These penguins can't sing_or dance, but_they sure know how_to surf...
Written: Aug 16 '07 (Updated Dec 11 '08)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Original style that makes it often very funny for adults...
Cons: ... but some kids really didn't like it...
The Bottom Line: I really enjoyed Surf's Up! - but it's not necessarily one the youngsters will like so much.
|
|
|
| captaind's Full Review: Surf's Up! |
Now here’s a strange thing - an animated movie that not only isn’t primarily aimed at children, but one that children don’t seem to like! Two young friends walked out and demanded their money back after 15 minutes, and in fact at the screening my wife and I went to, a few younger members of the audiences disappeared never to return. Some of the kids still there, including young ones, did seem to enjoy it quite a bit though, so it’s not a complete disaster for families - however, it’s mainly meant for the more mature audience, and this review shall deal with it from that angle.
Surf’s Up! is done entirely in a documentary style - thus the dislike from some children, I guess. One of the trailers is in the style of a documentary, and this trailer makes up the majority of the film’s intro - however I hadn’t really been expecting it to continue in this style. For a few minutes after the introduction it actually seemed to be overplaying this card in fact, and the start was admittedly too slow (this was probably the section where my younger friends had stomped out of the cinema), but persevere with it for a little while and it really picks up. The story of course is about surf-boarding penguins -and the journey of one particular young penguin, Cody (voiced superbly by Shia LaBeouf) from outcast in his local community to entrant into the famous “Big Z Memorial Surfing Competition”. Big Z is the most famous surfboarding penguin of all time, who took the sport to a new level. Cody aspires to become like him, one of life’s winners.
The documentary style is fun after a while because there are constant changes in scene from the tournament, preparations, Cody’s new friend Chicken Joe (voiced by Jon Heder, and a hilarious character), and a possum who acts as the promoter for all the most famous surfing - check out the Don King hairstyle. It’s things like that which younger viewers are very unlikely to pick up on. (They may pick up on a dig at Happy Feet - Cody says near the beginning of the interview, “I can’t sing or dance, or anything like that.“ There’s a fair bit of subtle satire thrown of sporting events and promotion, along with the cautionary tale about how winning’s not as important as friendship etc - one reviewer has likened the storyline to that of PIXAR’s Cars, and indeed there are similarities. However really Surf’s Up! is really much less about the actual story than the style it’s done in and the great characters that we’re introduced to. The plot itself is pretty predictable, with an early plot twist that’s so obvious that I defy anyone not to have worked out the identity of the supposedly mystery character the moment they saw him! (I will say no more just in case some people don’t find it quite as obvious…)
This is definitely Sony Animations’ best movie yet - I’ve found the previous efforts such as Over the Hedge and Arthur and the Invisibles okay but lacking a cutting edge in the writing department. The story here isn’t amazing but the script is great - the situations and dialogue, along with some of the visuals (particularly the fine detail that could easily be missed) had me laughing out loud on several occasions. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and without the sluggish first twenty minutes or so, it would probably have been a 5-star movie.
Even the peripheral characters were great - the elderly penguins who'd worked their way up the fish piles and the infant penguin surfers were very funny. Some might find the "surfer dude" manner of speaking a little wearing after a while, but it never bothered me or grated on my nerves - and Chicken Joe was always funny. Tank, the 9-times champion who's a big nasty and has a strange relationship with his trophies, was often hilarious. Did I mention that the characters were good? :-D
There’s a rockin’ soundtrack to go along with it (and unlike some recent animated efforts, this one actually does fit the movie well), and the voice-acting throughout is superb (the talent on show… well not on show exactly, but you know what I mean - includes Zooey Deschansel, Jeff Bridges, and James Woods). Sony Animations’ visuals have been up there with the best for a while now, and it looks great. In particular in the documentary modes there’s a grainy quality too it, especially when they are showing old black and white clips of the famous penguin surfers of old, which adds to the feeling of authenticity.
Overall I really enjoyed Surf’s Up, but be prepared for it being a little different to the animated movies you may have seen before. In particular, make sure your children are prepared for it - or just go and watch it without them…
See also:
Top Ten Animated Movies
Top Ten Children's Movies (in case you get Surf’s Up because you want to watch it, they don’t like it, and you need another movie to placate them with later!!)
Surf''s Up is now also available as a WII game. Read my review of Surf's Up for the Nintendo WII.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.