"Surfs Up"

OK it’s time for another animated movie review! I must admit the kid inside me fights its way to the surface whenever a good animated film comes out, however I did in fact miss this one in the theaters. After “March of the Penguins," and “Happy Feet,” I thought to myself, “Why would I possibly want to go see yet another penguin movie?” OK big mistake on my part.

“Surf’s up,” is a product of Sony Animation. I have no idea if Pixar and Sony are affiliated with each other in anyway, but the quality of this film was definitely “Pixar” material front to back. The rendering of the animals brought to life on screen was brilliant. From the soft fluffy feathers of the young penguins, to the sleek lined wet look of the big penguins in the water, to the ridiculously life like characteristics of waves, this movie has it all! There are a couple of scenes in particular when you are looking “first person” inside a massive tube wave as one of the characters surfs through them, and it is breath taking.

As far as the story itself goes, it is the typical, yet not so typical “Karate Kid” type tale. A teenage penguin named Cody Maverick (voice over by Shia LaBeouf) lives in the Antarctic town (Ice block) of Shiverpool. (How classic is that even the name of the town is cute) Cody was once visited as a young penguin by the champion surfer at the time “Big Z” and from that day forward he is a surfer. He dreams of leaving his home town to some day surf “Pen gu Island,” where the big surf contests are held. Along the way he meets up with Chicken Joe (voiceover by Jon Heder from Napoleon Dynamite) and they become friends as they finally arrive at the big surf contest. The bad guy in this one is “Tank (The Shredder) Evans.” (Voice over by Diedrich Bader) Tank has won the past 9 surf contests, and has no problems playing dirty to win his 10th trophy. The slap stick character is a Reggie Bellefonte (voice over by James wood.....Yes THAT James wood) he is the surf promoter with the hair and attitude of Don King, and totally makes this movie hilarious.

I typically try to make notice of the director in each film I review, but in this instance it is by far the animators of this movie that deserve the praise. From the frozen waste land of Shiverpool, to the tropical beaches of Pen gu Island, these folks put together an animated film of the caliber of “Finding Nemo,” and “Monsters Inc.” If you are any kind of animated film fan, this is an absolute must have for your collection. I can’t count how many times I’ve watched this movies since I bought it, and each time I enjoy it more even knowing what happens and where the punch lines are. It is simply that good.

My rating for this movie is 9.00 out of 10.00