Penguins didn't feature much in the first hundred years of cinema, but they've starred in no less than five feature films recently. At this rate, by the year 2050, all movies will be about these flightless birds.
We've seen them dance and sing, bust out of a zoo, march and swear their heads off, and now they're hanging 10 in Surf's Up.
This is the story of Cody, a teen-guin from the Antarctic sub-berg of Shiverpool. He has lived to surf ever since an encounter with wave-riding legend Big Z. Our feathery chancer gets his big break when he's recruited for a competition in Hawaii.
There he learns that there's more to surfing than being a winner. It's all about the spirituality of being in the green room, dude.
I didn't go into this expecting much – Surf's Up is structured as a mockumentary and that format, like penguins, is something we've had a lot of lately. But while this is very formulaic in story and the life lessons it imparts, it's also a pleasant, gently amusing family-friendly comedy.
Good voice casting helps.
Shia LeBoef's irritable smart-ass teen persona suits Cody, while Jeff Bridges has fun riffing on his Big Lebowski persona as Big Z, the Zen surfer dude.
James Woods is on slimy form as a Don King-style surf promoter and Jon Heder's stoner chicken has his moments, even if he too specifically recalls the similar turtle character from Finding Nemo.
Surf's Up is a Sony Animation production and the CGI here, while not on a Pixar level, is quite good. I liked the way they've dummied up faded archival footage and the tubular sequence at the end is way gnarly.
I do wish that music supervisors would be more creative with the songs they choose though. This is the fourth movie I've seen to use New Radicals You Get What You Give.
However, I'm sure kids won't care.
Surf's Up is a breezy, summery flick for the whole family. It hangs three stars out of five.
