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Surf's Up
I guess I’ve been spoiled recently by the quality of cartoons made by studios like Pixar, containing both adult and child humour, that when a perfectly watchable cartoon made for children comes along, I’m disappointed by it. Surf’s Up had a lot of potential to be another great cartoon, but instead managed to relegate itself to the ranks of the mediocre.
It’s a typical sporting movie, although in this case the sports stars are penguins and Chicken Joe, who is the best thing about the movie. The film makers felt that it was necessary to try and include moral lessons about not giving up and pursuing your dream or some crap, which seemed condescending.
The one thing I did like about Surf’s Up was the fact that it had been shot “reality TV documentary style” with periodic interviews with various characters. Unfortunately this seemed like it was a gimmick used to try and present something original.
Dodginess
A movie about surfing penguins really has quite a lot of potential for dodginess, even as a cartoon. It’s a pity that this potential wasn’t fully realised. Surf’s Up manages a meagre 1 on the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man scale. The only parts of the film that you end up looking forward to are anything including Chicken Joe, who has that laid back stoner attitude, that is typical of image of the surf scene. Including him was a stroke of genius, and when he finds and befriends the tribe of cannibal penguins, you realise that the movie isn’t going to get any better from there on out, winning Chicken Joe and the Cannibal Penguins (Now that would be an awesome band name) the title for dodgiest moment.
Rewatchability Rating
I’m not going to be watching this one again any time soon if ever, and I feel sorry for parents who might end up being subjected to it repeatedly by their “darling” offspring. With a slightly more original story, this one may have managed to creep up the rewatchability index, but instead it manages a resounding 1.
Most Memorable Quote
There really weren’t a whole lot of these in the movie, and most of them were only memorable because of the delivery. The one that stuck with me was the interview with the sea urchin, “Stepped on me, stepped on me? Are you kidding? This guy was dancing on me! I mean just look at this, broken, broken, gone, gone, broken, broken, broken...”
Final Thoughts
If you have kids, you may be able to get some quiet time by sitting them in front of Surf’s Up, but you’d be better off showing them just about anything else. If you don’t have kids, you don’t have to worry as it should be relatively easy to avoid this forgettable title.