Haunt - Oh gosh, that guy had my sister and I cracking up for…a whole one-third of the movie… (snigger)
“I never really knew my father either.” - Chicken Joe
Drop dead hilarious, that was. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed that hard before, save a couple of other times. 
– Mitch
It’s probably not the kind of animated adventure that’s going to garner Oscar talk, but it’s a good-hearted, old-fashioned, family-friendly tale.
But this is easily the best movie to ever feature penguins.
However if you’re not a fan of surfing (or are a surfer yourself), your personal enjoyment factor may be low.
I personally loved it. The mockumentary-style surf film parody was genius.
One of my neighbors recently purchased the Surf’s Up DVD, and I took the liberty of borrowing it for a couple of nights. It has a decent amount of bonus features and is, overall, a fun little disc to explore. It’s the film itself that takes the cake, though, obviously…
Exactly. Finally, a film about dudes that I can watch… (snigger)
– Mitch
I like Surf-up, this film is better that Sony 1st film 
Well, I finally “caught the wave” and watched Surf’s Up.
It was a lot better than I expected. I guess I’m used to other CG animated films being way below Pixar’s level that I had my expectations set low. There were quite a few laugh out loud moments and they went with the flow of the story, rather than the story being hinged on gags.
I thought I would be sick of these penguin movies, but it amazes me how there have been about 5 different penguin movies in the past couple of years, but they have all had a different take and feel with the characters and environment. I think I’ve had enough of penguins for now, though.
The original score was adequate to good, but sometimes the songs would cut in quite quickly into the score, which was a bit jarring. The surfing songs, like the one from Green Day for example, seemed like they were trying to make the movie “hip”, but I suppose it was going with the theme of surfing videos having cool soundtracks. It reminded me a bit too much of Shrek with the cool songs in it, but for the most part it suited the film, so that’s ok. I wish they would have gone for an all original score all throughout the film though, but that’s just my preference.
The animation: Wow. Watching this movie just makes me want to go swimming, especially at Big Z’s beach. And I like how, much like Finding Nemo, with the limited palette of the beach and water, there were different “moods” of the different beach scenes: like if you contrast the part where Cody is learning to surf, to the Artic, to the darkness of the final race they are all different.
The celebrity voices weren’t that recognisable and they suited the roles. Shia LaBeouf did a good job with his role. The only celebrity I recognised was James Woods, whose character reminded me of a character that John Ratzenberger might voice in a Pixar film. ^^ The creators should have pushed for better voice acting from Kelly Slater, though.
Was anybody else reminded of Cars when they first watched the film? I didn’t notice it so much on the second viewing, but there are a few similarities such as… having the former champion go into hiding (Big Z, Doc Hudson), the main character learning a different way of competing, but then not winning the race. There were more that I can’t think of now, but I could just be imagining things.
The documentary style really worked for this film. The cutting away to other people, like the cute kiddie penguins and the spiky sea thing, kept up the pace when the flow of the film was getting repetitive. The spoof on the sporting coverage was really clever, without going too over the top.
The funniest part of the film was when Big Z was showing Cody how to carve his board, but wouldn’t go away and let him do it himself. The facial expressions and body language (which are superb throughout), helped make it believable and I could relate to Cody in that situation since my dad does the exact same thing! Argh!
The only real criticism I have is that I don’t think the movie was as clear enough as it should have been in some parts. For example, I didn’t understand why Lina was angry at Cody at the surfing competition. I think they should have been more clear with that, or just dropped that part all together.
I think that Dreamwork’s should watch out, because if they don’t step up their game, Sony will be raising the bar and people will stop putting up with mediocre animation which is an insult to the medium, the audience, and filmmakers everywhere. Pixar will still be number one of course, but it’s great to see some real competition and there will always be room for good CG films, and good stories no matter the medium.
Oh, and it was a nice surprise to see that Ash Brannon worked on this. I like to think that it shows through, and that he helped Surf’s Up to be a pretty good CG film of 2007. It’s not as good as Ratatouille, but since my standards are pretty low with studios other than Pixar who make movies with this medium (thanks, Dreamworks), I was pleasantly surprised. I don’t think Surf’s Up will be a classic, but it’s a fun movie and it was a great ride. 
A most awesome review, rachel! Great analysis and excellent viewpoints. I loved reading it. 
My thoughts exactly! I absolutely loved how that moment in the film played out – you know that Big Z is submerging into nostalgia there… Truth be told, though, I can completely relate to Z. (snigger)
– Mitch
Congrats to Surf’s Up for getting the nomination for best animation. I would not be upset in the least if it won. I did think it deserved a few more nods, such as Sound Mixing and Best Screenplay, but hey, after getting passed up by the Golden Globes I’m certainly happy to see it somewhere.
I loved Surfs Up. Although Sony knew they would be competing with the next Pixar release (which unfortunately for them was Ratatouille) they still put a significant amount of work into this gem. If Ratatouille would have been saved until this summer, Surfs Up would have totally won Best AniFeature. There was so much depth in the technical aspects, especially the surfing. Getting the whole crew out to take surfing lessons? Hiring the two best surfers in the world as reference check? A wave rig? Come on!
Also, Surfs Up incorporated a website that wasn’t just an afterthought. They had surfcams, like the ones in real life, where you can see the beach weather conditions in real time. SO RAD. Plus, they motion captured a video camera operator to get the hand held look. Phenomenal.
And the animation was consistent, which Shrek the Third had a hard time with.
I would say a 3d animation classic.
Hello, I’m new here, and I thought I would start here, with my favorite movie! I want to test the spoiler tags[spoil]spoiler tag test 123[/spoil]there. I love surf’s up and pixar too! I was sad that it did not get the oscar, but I’m still happy for ratatouille. Cody Maverick is my favorite character, I love his personality, his story, his surfing,everything! and on top of that he’s CUTE!!! But I also love everyone else too! Hello again to everyone!
After reading the blog of one of the artists for this movie, I decided to rent it a few weeks ago. I was surprised that a non-Pixar animated movie could be so entertaining. Then I figured out that a director from Pixar left the company to work on this movie. No wonder.
This movie has seriously made me want to learn how to surf. But the movie Endless Summer did the same thing, and nothing came of it. Partly because the beaches around here suck. Oh well, I know how to snowboard, that’s good enough… until winter ends. Angst!
I love the heck out of this movie!
It has a great cinematic style, really good animation, fun dialogue, awesome music, and a cool last scene!!!
(rwilkins: that sig is freakin’ scary!)
I never saw it, but i have friends who saw it and thought that it was a really cute and intresting movie.
Yeah, I thought it was going to be some childish penguin movie, but I was actually surprised. It is a pretty good movie with quite a few laugh out loud moments. Doesn’t really match up to Pixar movies, but it is really good for Sony Picture’s second CGI movie.
And yes, when Cody was making the surfboard, the dialog with Big Z was hilarious and familiar.
I thought it was a great movie! I liked Chicken Joe!
You should see it, TSS
~~ JOHN•E
I have an extra soft spot for this movie. The head of the animation department at my school worked on it. Specifically, the night scene where Cody and Geek were talking about being in the tube.
JOHN-E: I’ll try. But I might have to wait until it appears on TV or until I get the DVD.
it’s a great movie, TSS! You’d like it!
I know I will. I heard a lot of good things about it. Both here and from my friends.
It’s been playing on Starz at least every other day since May! Do you have cable… or even Starz for that matter? Meh, it’s not important. What is important is for you to see it ASAP.