Hola all. Massawyrm here.
Please. For the love of god. Can we be done with the fucking penguins? One successful documentary and I can't so much as take a leak without shaking off some drops on a penguin movie. They're everywhere. Practically everything's been done with them. So much so that all that was left was to make a movie about Surfing penguins. How does one follow to the other? Beats the shit out of me, but there it is. A surfing penguin movie. And odds are you're checking this review for one of two reasons. One, you've got kids and want to know how painful this could be. Or two, you're just itching for yet another wild and exciting Shia LaBeouf talkback.
So how's the movie? Meh.
Surf's Up is a cute, inoffensive, entirely harmless little romp through the world of Pro Surfing. The jokes occasionally fall into the realm of the piss and fart variety, with a smattering of adult puns that are far too concealed for the kids to get. I giggled a couple of times, but by no means did this ever make me guffaw. But I didn't exactly roll my eyes all that often either. For the most part I was bored with the story – but never did it take me to a point in which I hated it. So it's not in any way intolerable.
The idea is clever enough – for an animated film. It's a Mockumentary about a penguin who wants to be a pro surfer, and has raw talent, but just needs the right training. Enter the accidental encounter with a retired legend and you have the makings of a sports training film. Where the moral comes in is in the lead penguins drive to get the trophy, while his aging master tries to teach him the surfing is all about the love and experience, not about prizes. Not exactly groundbreaking stuff, but fine fodder and story for the kids. And the documentary pacing keeps it different enough to be interesting.
As for the kids, they absolutely loved it. It played very well to the families around me and the kids were fascinated and silent the whole way through. It moves fairly quickly, the character design is unique and at times pretty gorgeous (especially the cool tribal/surfer striations on several of the characters), and it certainly plays by all the rules of a sports training film – so it hits all the right notes of a classic genre.
And to add icing to the cake, the voice work and talent choices are pretty great. The infamous Shia LaBeouf is the lead, and does a solid job with it. And who better to play an aging surfer than The Dude himself, Jeff Bridges. He's pretty Duderiffic – but sadly isn't offered the chance to make so much as one Lebowski reference. Kind of a travesty considering the role. Jon Heder is Jon Heder, Zooey Deschanel is Zooey Deschanel, and oddly enough James Woods is Don King. Everyone works and no one seems to be phoning it in.
But even as a big fan of the sports training film, I just could never get into it. So I can't really recommend it to anyone but those with kids. While a cut above the usual CG drek, it's still not up to snuff with the likes of last year's Over the Hedge or the better of the Pixar catalogue. But if you're kids are begging you to take them to it, it's not really gonna hurt - so if you're looking for some quality time at the movies with them, this should do the trick.
Until next time friends, smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em.
Massawyrm
Don't worry Shia, I said the word Penguins. You're not the only one about to take a beating below. The gates of talkback hell have swung wide open. Anyone not wanting to get into the ensuing melee can drop me a line here.
