 |  |
Review #469 of 365
Movie Review of Surf's Up (2007) [PG] 85 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $12.25
Where Viewed: United Artists Denver Pavilions Stadium 15, Denver, CO
When 1st Seen: 10 June 2007
Time: 11:45 a.m.
Film's Official Website • Film's Trailer
DVD Release Date: 9 October 2007
Co-Directed by: Ash Brannon (Toy Story 2) and Chris Buck (Tarzan)
Co-Written by: Lisa Addario (Lover Girl) • Christian Darren • Don Rhymer (Deck the Halls) • Joe Syracuse (Lover Girl)
Featured Voice Cast (Where You Might Remember Him/Her From):
Shia LaBeouf (Disturbia) • Jeff Bridges (Tideland) • Zooey Deschanel (Bridge to Terabithia) • Jon Heder (Blades of Glory) • James Woods ("Shark") • Diedrich Bader ("7th Heaven") • Mario Cantone (Farce of the Penguins) • Kelly Slater (One Night at McCool's) • Rob Machado (Step Into Liquid) • Brian Posehn ("Reno 911!") • Dana Belben (Happy Tree Friends, Volume 3: Third Strike)
Soundtrack: Download now from 
— or — order the CD below
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word or less review of this film]
With the advent of the Academy Award® for Best Animated film and the monumental box office success of Pixar•Disney® CGI animated films, it seems like everyone and his cousin has set out to make an animated film. Surf's Up joins the list with its own large set of plusses and minuses as the genre matures and studios begin to acknowledge that quality rewards more than quantity after the extraordinary number of animated films released in 2006 led to huge losses at the box office.
Breaking down the pluses and minuses for Surf's Up
Breaking down the pluses and minuses for Surf's Up
| Penguins—some people seem to think this is a sequel to Happy Feet (which it is not). | Penguins—There have been too many penguin movies animated and otherwise. |
| Surfing is Always Hot | There isn't that much surfing in the film. |
| Most kids are out of school with nothing to do in June. | Shrek 3 just came out and Ratatouille is on the way. |
| Shia LaBeouf is the 'it' dude right now due to his upcoming role in Transformers and his recent affiliation with the next Indiana Jones movie. | Other than Jeff Bridges, Jon Heder, and James Woods, no other voices in the voice cast are that well known. (With all due respect to superstar surfer Kelly Slater who lends his voice to the surf caster penguin named Kelly—this was meant in the sense of being well-known in the world of voice acting.) |
| Risky documentary style plot—why not a documentary style plot for an animated film? It gives a different, first person perspective way of telling a story. | Risky documentary style plot—there is a reason that no one has yet made a successful documentary film expressly for children. The child I accompanied who sat thoroughly engaged in Firehouse Dog and Shrek 3 both with a medium-sized White Cherry Icee®, needed to leave Surf's Up twice: once for food and once for a potty break and the Icee® machined was broken so she had no beverage. |
| Professional surfers Kelly Slater and Rob Machado do cameos for the film. | It's really hard to make penguins, even with the best of intentions look like famous people. So, probably most people didn't even catch the Kelly and Rob penguins in the first place or realize who they were supposed to be. |
"… there is extraordinary talent shining trough … a film that is surely to become a beloved one…"
But, of course, Cody won't have any of that and swims through treacherous open ocean to catch the whale transport carrying other penguins, Mikey, and his new best friend, Chicken Joe (voiced by Jon Heder—don't worry, he doesn't sound anything like Napoleon Dynamite). They arrive on Pen Gu and immediately get into lots of trouble. They end up getting into a fight with current and obnoxious Surf Champ of the world, Tank Evans (voiced by Diedrich Bader), rescued by penguin life guard Lani Aliikai (voiced by Zooey Deschanel), promoted by underhanded surf contest promoter, a Hedge Hog with Don King-style hair named Reggie Belafonte (voiced by James Woods), and left in the care of a big, chubby penguin named Geek (voiced by Jeff Bridges) to bring Cody back from the near death caused by stepping on a spiny fire urchin. The chief point of the plot will be for Cody to compete in the Annual Big Z Surf Championships held each year in honor of Big Z who was lost in a tragic accident. But how will he compete without a proper surfboard and coaching? Fortunately, the woods hold a secret that will give Cody a father figure and help a lost soul find his way back to the ocean.
Despite the documentary approach, the story is a little too derivative and, for the most part, a bit too predictable. It's not terrible; it's just not fresh. And, it's neither as fun nor filled with life lessons as were Happy Feet and Cars (last year's top two animated films for children). One area where it shined hands down was in humor. The film is full of great jokes and avoids relying on insider material or jokes that fly over kids' heads landing smack in their elder's foreheads. [Note: Well, this is kind of gross, so forgive, but scientifically speaking, penguins and other birds for that matter do not urinate in the same was as mammals. So that scene where Geek uses the urban legendary remedy for jellyfish stings to cure Cody of his sea urchin problem, there were a few problems with it.] When it comes to the characters, they are, for the most part, extraordinary. The CGI animators have done an incredible job with the technology giving these penguins amazing personalities and facial expressions. From the tiny Kiwi Bird Mike to the wonderfully ornate emperor penguin Tank Evans, there is extraordinary talent shining trough. Once again, the animators continue to push the envelope of possibility whipping up waves and a sticky glowworm residue that bioluminescence lights up an underground lava tube in a wonderfully funny and charming scene. Ranking it strictly on characters, Surf's Up would hang ten. The voice talent is pretty good. James Woods stood out the most revving up his little hedgehog, Reggie, into a perfect talent promoter. Co-directors Ash Brannon and Chris Buck—both extremely experienced in this genre, have broken free from the confines of the usual studio approach to animated films, taken some risks, and produced a film that is surely to become a beloved one despite the list of minuses--at least until Ratatouille comes out.
James Woods Buy From Art.com
Back to Top | W.I.P. Scale™ | Most Recently Reviewed Films | Films of 2005 | Films of 2006 | Films of 2007
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Other Projects Featuring Surf's Up (2007)
Cast Members
Shia LaBeouf
• Jeff Bridges • Zooey DeschanelJon Heder
• James Woods • Diedrich BaderMario Cantone
• Kelly Slater • Rob MachadoBrian Posehn
• Dana BelbenCo-Directors
Ash Brannon
• Chris BuckCo-Writers
Lisa Addario
• Christian Darren • Don Rhymer • Joe Syracuse| CD Soundtrack | DVD | VHS |
| Related Book | Board Game | Video Games |
Surf's Up (2007) Review-lite [150-word cap]
Surfing penguins? No this is not a sequel to Happy Feet—remember that was dancing penguins. Were it not for the plethora of penguin films of late, Surf's Up might have played a bit better and seemed a bit less recycled. Nonetheless, directors Ash Brannon and Chris Buck took a new approach—an animated documentary style film, in an effort to create a unique look at the dreams of young penguin Cody Maverick (voiced by Shia LaBeouf) as he hopes to follow in the webbed footprints of his idol Big Z. James Woods and Jon Heder deliver great vocal performances to some of the most personality-filled CGI animated characters ever created. Whimsical and hilarious, the film is full of great laughs and not so many inside jokes. It has a good life lesson; yet, again, it's a bit derivative even in that regard.
No comments:
Post a Comment