Publicity
Still of "Surf's Up"
(Courtesy of Columbia TriStar)
Genre: CG Animation Director: Ashley Brannon and Chris Buck Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Jeff Bridges, Zooey
Deschanel, James Woods, Jane Krakowski, Jon Heder, Mario Cantone,
Brian Benben, Michael McKean RunTime: 1 hr 27 mins Released By: Columbia TriStar Rating: G Official Website:www.surfingpenguins.com.sg
A
comedy that delves behind the scenes of the high-octane world
of competitive surfing, profiling teenage Rockhopper penguin
Cody Maverick, an up-and-coming surfer, as he enters his first
pro competition. Cody leaves his family and home in Shiverpool,
Antartica to travel to Pen Gu Island for the Big Z Memorial
Surf Off. Cody believes that winning will bring him the admiration
and respect he desires but when he unexpectedly comes face-to-face
with a washed-up old surfer named Geek, Cody begins to find
his own way and discovers that a true winner isn't always
the one who comes in first.
Movie
Review:
If
you thought these monochromatically coated birds from the
Antarctic couldn’t get any cooler, then its time you
watched Surf’s Up. This witty, energetic mockumentary
styled movie oozes so much cool you’d wish you were
a surfer dude- no, wait- a penguin surfer dude, by the end
of the movie. In terms of animated features, hardly any comes
close to Surf’s Up in terms of natural humour, wit and
delivery of quality popcorn-flick goodness. Starring up-and-coming
Hollywood duo Shia LaBeouf (Transformers! Brownie points..)
and Jon Heder (whose spectacularly slapstick performance in
Blades Of Glory makes me grateful this was an animated feature),
Surf’s Up avoids the big distractions, type-casting
and star-spotting of voices that often occur with mega-star
dubbed animated features, allowing the animated characters
to really shine through and carry the film through.
Chris
Buck (Tarzan, 1999) and Ash Brannon serves up good, clean
laughs in this movie which tells the story of penguin surfer
Cody (LaBeouf) at the penguin surfing championships. The key
winner for this film is its narrative takes that involves
camera crews, behind the scenes footage, interviews that play
on the classic media coverage of sporting events, with hilarious
results. Right from the start, we get good clean entertainment
as the classic hilarity of the animals’ nuances playing
off their very human personas is harnessed the great effect.
Although the start doesn’t feel as engaging as it could
have been, the movie soon catches on as Cody charms amidst
his surf-off competitor Chicken Joe (Heder), under the guidance
of Geek, a yesteryear surfer dude. Yes, though the movie sinks
into the feel-good be yourself mould that one might recall
most recently in the touching Disney feature, Cars, the seemingly
rehashed tale of a misguided prodigy turned good under a “teacher”
past his former glory adds good weight to the plot. It prevented
Surf’s Up from turning belly up with purely lightweight
comedy content.
Visually,
Surf’s Up can easily take to the waves and match Happy
Feet A-Frame for A-Frame. Just like the perfect “barrelling
surf”, Surf’s Up cinematically astounding environment
brings the surfing competition to life as every splash and
every wave, every rush of water brings the expansive ocean
to life in the movie. While Happy Feet soon turned draggy
and meaningless for me (what dancing penguins filling up the
last 20 minutes?), Surf’s Up goes for rapid, scene by
scene delivery of either action, quality characterisation
or humour, often a combination of the three. If Morgan Freeman
and his March of the Penguins were the Encyclopaedia Britannica
of penguins and Happy Feet was a picturesque but wordless
kids photobook, Surf’s Up is a classic Marvel comic
of penguin sand, surf and fun. Expect scene after scene of
quick paced, light-hearted and in-your-face humour that stops
short of being irreverent or cheesy, something Happily N’Ever
After was heinously guilty of.
The only downside of Surf’s Up is that it weighs in
at an extremely lightweight 85 minutes, which takes a bit
off the shine when it comes to giving this movie a score.
If put to the test of producing a meatier, longer feature,
Surf’s Up might not last on its ultimately well-executed
but formulaic content. Still, I’d rather not find out.
After all, its an animated feature, and for what its worth,
it was a pretty enjoyable and exhilarating surf.
