Surf's Up Reviews

[Highly rated reviewer]

Do you have any other talents ?

The star of the movie-within-a-movie is Cody Maverick, a pint-sized penguin with a king-sized dream of becoming an international surfing champion. To that end, he leaves his home in Antarctica and ventures to Hawaii to take part in the Big Z Memorial Surf-off, a competition held in honor of the surfing legend who was washed away by a giant wave during a previous contest, never to be heard from again.

This flick was filmed in a similar fashion to Incredibles (camera diary scene type thing) and also has some 'old sepia' footage thrown in as well.

It was an OK film but didn't really shine. It moved pretty slowly and the kids kept asking when the film would finish fairly near the end, I think they'd had enough. It was nicely animated and pretty and all the usual, but the plot wasn't all that great. Don't get me wrong, it is worth seeing but don't expect too much. The main underlying message is 'Winning isn't everything', and it's just as well as this isn't likely to win anything.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Surf's Up

Ok i never got round to watching this movie as i had to work but what i have heard it is meant to be fabby

might rent it again and see what people where talking about

[Highly rated reviewer]

Animated surf fun, and cute with it...

Made in a mocumentary style, this is the story of Cody, the wannabee coolest Penguin on THE coolest Continent. With an aptitude for surfing he wants a shot at the big time but as in life, somethimes your'e riing the crest of a wave and sometimes you just need something else to get you there.

With a neat story, lots of fun and a feel good factor the width of an ocean this is a real animated whizz of a film that should entertain the whole brood, from young to old. Theres no surf-'boredom' here, it gets a definate recommendation.

Totally rad dudes :)

This movie was awesome and a ray of sunshine on a cold winters evening.

Involving characters, great music and cool penguin tattoos add up to make one of the best rentals of the year ... rent it!

[Highly rated reviewer]

Don't let CG fatigue put you off this gem.

Cody Maverick, an humble fish sorter in the Antarctic town of Shiverpool, follows his true calling to enter the Big Zee Memorial Surfing championship and this documentary records the progress of the plucky penguin. Penguin. Yes.

Imagine, and it will take some imagining, that Christopher Guest, the genius behind Spinal Tap, tried his hand at CG animals whilst still making his documentary-style comedies. The result would be something like this, possibly the best computer animated feature Pixar have never made. Instead we have Sony to thank... not that they've had much thanks- Surf's Up's takings have failed to excite accountants in the US where it may have been dismissed as just another CG kids flick. If so it has been badly misjudged- the humour is varied with plenty of slapstick but, overall, there's probably less for tots than adults and older children. “Do you do anything other than surf?” an interviewer asks Cody, “You mean like singing and dancing? No... That's not me”.

The documentary styling frames what could have been a routine tale of the little guy who's determined to succeed discovering the importance of friendship along the way. Hardly a weakness, the buddy-movie formula served Pixer well after all, but the format adds zest though the film becomes more conventional as Cody trains with an hermetic surfing guru. Thanks to the vagaries of post-production scheduling Shia LaBeouf seems to have a film coming out every week at the moment but he's a talented comic actor whose presence hasn't worn thin and he makes Cody an appealing lead character. The other roles are in safe hands too with James Woods' exploitative promoter and a laid back Jeff Bridges stand-outs.

Technically the film is accomplished without apparently breaking much new ground though it would be easy to overlook the water animation- obviously a key element in this film and a great challenge to render convincingly the makers have succeeded magnificently. Recent CG films like Cars and, appropriately, Happy Feet have crammed in detail and polished every pixel but technical advances continue apace and, when a film is no longer cutting edge, it needs traditional virtues to fall back on. Pixar know this and that's why Toy Story, almost crude by today's standards, remains a classic. One can only hope that good word-of-mouth from those few who have seen it will help Surf's Up attain the lasting status it deserves.

Funny, inventive and strongly recommended.

[Highly rated reviewer]

surf up

surf up for me kids enjoed this one i guess you cant go wrong with kids games we need better online play for these game thou so kids can get together more,movie was good game was good.recommend.

Absolute tosh

Nothing more to say than the title of this review. There is nothing to redeem this film.

Surfs Up

Good fun family film. Can be enjoyed by all ages. Different enough from the other 2 penguin films that were released at around the same time. Watch & enjoy the surfing story!

[Highly rated reviewer]

umm boring

couldnt be bothered to watch it all .

disappointing

My son was really looking forward to this but while it didn't bore him, he got more fun out of the short (unrelated) cartoons that are also on the disc. My opinion?.... Don't bother!!