SURF'S UP

 

"Feel the board"

The Penguin World Surfing Championship is here and nine times winner Tank Evans (Bader) is about to be challenged by newcomer Cody Maverick (LaBeouf). With no holds barred access to the event and the contestants, this documentary reveals the rivalries, the passion, the drive and the influence of the greatest big wave surfer of all time, Big Z (Bridges). Who will win?

Animals have been the stars of many an animated movie but never has we had an animated documentary.

Taking the approach of an extreme sports documentary like 'Riding Giants', 'Billabong Odyssey' or 'Dogtown and Z Boys', this new movie from Sony Animation is a breath of fresh air and one that is destined to become a firm favourite not just with family audiences but surfers alike.

Here we have Cody Maverick and rest of the contestants of the Penguin World Surfing Championship talking to camera and revealing their feeling about the contest, their dreams and for Chicken Joe, his inner most thoughts and Zen wisdom. The surfing scenes are also constructed the same way, with cameras at the end of the board and in the water to capture the stars taking a wave. This sports documentary approach gives the movie a unique approach and one that makes the film intentionally funny and a great deal of fun.

It is the characters that make or break an animated feature and the great news is that Surf's up has some great ones, thanks to some fantastic vocal performances. Currently taking Hollywood by storm, Shia LaBeouf is up and coming surfer Cody Maverick who desperately wants to win the contest. LaBeouf attitude and persona come across to make an excellent leading character that is an awe of the competition and fame, at the determent of his enjoy of surfing. If you wanted to cast someone who is extremely cool, almost dude-like then there is only one man you would go to to provide the voice of Big Z, the penguin who mastered big wave surfing and became a legend and that man is Jeff Bridges. The Dude himself makes Big Z exactly what you would want from a surfing legend, bringing comedy, tragedy and a sense of awe to a penguin that personifies surfing. John Heder was also the obvious choice to play laidback, hippy surfer Chicken Joe and he makes the character the comedic funny-fowl of the film. With all of the best one-liners and cool outlook on surfing, this is the character that everyone will love, as he steals every scene he is in.

With outstanding computer generated animation and characters that are destined to become much loved by fans, 'Surf's Up' is very quickly going to become a firm family favourite but also with surfers as well. While the documentary approach might not be the best way to bring in younger viewers because most of the jokes and humour will be lost on them, slightly older kids and adults alike will adore the characters, the setting and the unique approach of the movie. Now where is my surfboard?

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in Widescreen 1.85:1 Anamorphic with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, the transfer is good as you'd expect from a animated movie.

BONUS FEATURES

Filmmakers Commentary
Directors Ash Brannon and Chris Buck and producer Chris Jenkins provide a fun and chatty commentary for 'Surf's Up'. They reveal why they chose to make it a documentary and what they based it on. They also talk about the characters and the vocal talent, as well as how they created the surfing shots. This is a good track from three people who passionately adore the movie.

Lost Scenes
Entitled 'Doris and Sheila', 'Pen-gu: Island of Adventure', 'Z for Zurfing', 'Doris and Shelia: Behind the Scenes', these deleted scenes have optional introduction directors Ash Brannon and Chris Buck and producer Chris Jenkins

Arnold's Zurfinary (4.23 mins)
Learn surfing lingo from youngster Arnold and you will be calling everyone 'Dude' and 'Bro' by the end. The Secret Spot Play interactive games entitled 'Make your own surfboard with Big Z and Cody', 'Whale hopping with Chicken Joe', 'Lava surf game' and 'Let's find Cody'

Progression Reels (5.07 mins)
The visual effects team take you through how they made the waves, the archive footage, wave particles, lighting and splashes.

Galleries
View images of the characters and locations from 'Surf's Up'

The Chubb Chubbs
Watch the Academy Award winning animated short 'The Chubb Chubbs' and the brand new original short 'The Chubb Chubbs save Xmas'. These are extremely well animated and very funny, making them a joy to watch.

Trailers
Previews of 'Monster House', 'Open Season' and 'Daddy Day Camp'

OVERALL

The DVD treatment for 'Surf's Up' is one that fans should enjoy. The commentary track is very good and the inclusion of the two 'Chubb Chubbs' shorts is excellent. The rest is standard fair but there is a lot to enjoy here and one should become a firm family favourite.

DVD

Happy Feet

Riding Giants

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2007