Surf's Up (2007)

one of my absolute favorites!

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Surfs Up is a funny and engaging movie that still holds up today. In actuality I give this movie a 7.5 but I want to increase the rating of this movie because this should be praised more often. And I'm gonna explain why. Surfs Up is not only a well made parody of surf movies/documentaries but it's also a well made comedy that just so happens to have penguins. However, before I explain why this movie is so awesome I'm gonna start by talking about the things I don't like in this movie.Unfortunately, the story is not all that original nor is the moral. It's just a story about an underdog who wants to win fame and glory but ends up choosing friendship and humility in the end: think of Cars, in fact, compare this movie to Cars before you compare it to Happy Feet. The main character, Cody Maverick, wants to be like Big Z, an ultimate Penguin prodigy surfer, at the start of the movie and he wants to be just like him. Throughout the movie, when he finally meets Big Z, he is told that he should pursue his own way and not just follow in Big Z's footsteps especially when he learns that Big Z's motto "Never give up, find a way because that's what winners do" turns out to be dismissed by Z himself. But there is no payoff from this dilemma. Cody never finds his own way and by the end of the movie he just ends up being like Big Z so the moral never hits home. I mean he sort of does in that he sacrifices winning to save his friend, Chicken Joe, but he still ends up like Z and never finds his own way. Instead we get the "there's more to life than glory" theme which is important but not all that original, I mean Cars did this. If they had made it where Cody had to accept that he lost and still come back that would prove that he did find his own way and not just end up as Big Z. The thing about this movie that sort of redeems it is that Big Z ends up being inspired by Cody to show his face again and be proud even when he lost years ago. Still, I don't think it saves the moral and I'm still disappointed. However, I will give props that the theme that is present, "more to life than winning" is about sportsmanship and not environmentalism, something that would have been easy. I don't want to complain the whole time though because there is a lot of stuff that I like. The animation is really breathtaking, that water animation looks really alive especially the animation at the end, however the wind and sand animation is also well done. This is because real life surfers were consulted to help make the water animation look so realistic and that hard work shows. Speaking of which, I love that surfers like Kelly Slater and Rob Machado are in the movie, it makes it feel more authentic as a surfing movie and adds a few laughs. The jokes themselves are really funny and there is some real humor to find in this movie which all audiences can appreciate. Not all of the jokes are comedy gold but most of them are. Now for the elephant in the room. I like Shia Labeouf in this movie a lot. I think that not only is he extremely funny as Cody Maverick, but he's also really likable. He really sold me in this movie and I really liked him. I know he is only a voice-acting role but I still really enjoyed him and I see this movie as proof that he can be likable and funny. Jeff Bridges is also really funny in this movie and he's full of energy as Big Z, I really loved his humor and sarcasm. I enjoyed him just as much as I enjoyed Shia Labeouf's performance in this movie. I also enjoyed the other characters namely Chicken Joe and Tank Evans, they got lots of laughs. However, none of this compares to the number one thing that this movie does: it feels like an authentic mockumentary of surfing documentaries. You can tell that the makers of this movie did their homework and really went out of their way to parody both surfing movies and surfing documentaries like Endless Summer. The way this movie takes on the idea of a fake documentary never gets old. The camera scenes and fake interviews are hilarious and it almost feels like watching an awesome surfing documentary. Surfers can really enjoy this movie as can the casual fan of comedy/parody so I highly recommend that people watch this movie. It's fun it's entertaining, I just really like it. Peace.

I don't care how many penguin animation movies are out there. After all we have a lot of movies with humans and they are great as long as the story is a good one.It is a bit confusing though why penguins were chosen for this one. Surfing somewhere in Hawaii, penguins, really? Seems another species would be more fitting. But whatever let's go with penguins.The story is not original. Any adult watching it will know how it ends and what happens next. For the kids though who are the main target of the movie it can be pretty original. And it shows some good lessons. Although I am not sure showing kids that winning isn't important is that good. Sure, friends are more important than trophies. But achieving one's goal deserves a reward. And kids should know it before they get out into competitive world.The animation was alright. When it came to water it was great. All the waves and at some point there were even little drops on the camera, that is supposed to be a documentary camera from the movie. This was really good.The voices are also very good. I enjoyed Jeff Bridges as Z, he kept on reminding me of his Dude in The Big Lebowsky. The humor is really not original. I think it is good for the kids but adults watching with them will just have a smile here and there. The chicken was the one funny character and at the same time he was pretty useless for the story.

That Tank Penguin is hot as darn. I have dreams about him bending me over a ice table and jamming his massive penguin dick inside me.This Movie made me realize that my husband will never be able to satisfy me like Tank could. He's such a beefcake, and his wing muscles are just so Juicy. I would do anything for a penguin like Tank. I wish I could leave my husband for Tank.

Almost a year after the release of Happy Feet, this film also starring penguins came out, and I was quite keen to see it after seeing a trailer, so I did when I got my chance. Basically it is played out as a documentary, with slightly wobbly cameras and "stock footage", focusing on rock-hopper penguin Cody Maverick (Shia ) from Shiverpool in Antarctica. He is determined to become the new champion at the "Big Z Memorial Surf Off" competition on Pen Gu Island, both for his personal pride, and to honour his hero from childhood, the now supposedly deceased Zeke 'Big Z' Topanga (Jeff Bridges). He gets the support from his new friends, lifeguard Lani Aliikai (Zooey Deschanel) and fellow surfing enthusiast Chicken Joe (Napoleon Dynamite's Jon Heder), and he has a rival in egotistical champion Tank 'The Shredder' Evans (Diedrich Bader). When Cody gets himself washed up by a big wipe out where he ends up near a jungle where Lani takes him to her friend 'Geek', who seems to know a lot about surfing and the boards to use. As time goes by Cody realises that 'Geek' is in fact Big Z still living and a little chubbier, hiding from the surfing world and feeling like he can't come back. After creating the perfect surf board and learning some new tricks with the help of Big Z, Cody seems ready to take part in the competition and go against Tank, originally Big Z's rival. Cody starts having a strong bond with Lani, but he wasn't able to convince Big Z to come back and face the people he seems to have abandoned, but he sneaks his way back to watch Cody. In the end, Cody sacrifices becoming the new champion of the waves to help Chicken Joe to win against Tank, and Big Z does come back to reveal he is alive, and Cody and Lani are happy together. Also starring James Woods as Reggie Belafonte, Mario Cantone as Mikey Abromowitz, Kelly Slater as Kelly, Rob Machado as Rob, Sal Masekela as SPEN Announcer, Ash Brannon as Filmmaker, Chris Buck as Filmmaker, Brian Posehn as Glen Maverick and Dana Belben as Edna Maverick. The casting is really good, with LaBeouf as a great lead character, Bridges, Deschanel and Heder as great support, and it boasts some really cool animation effects, but it is the documentary feel that is quite original, so a fun family computer animated comedy. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year. Good!