“Surf’s Up” stars the voices of Shia LaBeouf, Jeff Bridges, Zooey Deschanel, Jon Heder, Diedrich Bader and James Woods. This poorly constructed animated film also contains a cameo appearance from professional surf-boarder Kelly Slater.
Cody (Shia LaBeouf) is a penguin from Shiverpool, Antarctica who claims that he is the best there is. In actuality, Cody is nothing but a deadbeat when he meets Tank (Diedrich Bader) in the “Big Z Memorial Surf Off” on Pen Gu island. Ever since he was young Cody idolized Big-Z (Jeff Bridges), a surfing legend that died years ago. From that day forward, Pen Gu island has had the “Big Z Memorial Surf Off” in his honor. Cody’s only dream is to win the competition and prove that he is the best surfer alive.
There are many things that I disliked about the movie. One is the way the penguins walked. Instead of waddling, the penguins walked like humans. Another thing is the film introduces the viewers to characters that they could care less for. This is mainly because of how irritating these characters are. The film is hardly ever funny with the exception of a few built in chuckles. This many will frown upon.
Just because it is an animated film aimed towards a younger audience, the viewers feel obligated to like it. This is how most animated films become over-rated, such as this one. The documentary style photography will probably make kids, it’s primary audience, lose interest in the film. The whole movie experience was a bore and frankly disappointing.
Overall, I don’t see how anyone could keep interest in a film that has so many little jokes that fall flat. I was never dazzled or amused by the animation. The story was simple but predictable. The whole documentary-like feel just doesn’t work for animated films, especially if the film doesn’t have any wit or charm to it. In the long run, “Surf’s Up” wipes out on almost every film aspect that I can think of.
1/5 stars
