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What is it with penguins? Since four of the mischievous critters stole the show in Dreamworks' Madagascar, there has almost emerged a new genre, the penguin movie. That is an exaggeration, perhaps, but the fact remains that Surf's Up is another film starring a bunch of penguins, coming on the back of the implausibly popular documentary March of the Penguins in 2005 and 2006's monster hit Happy Feet. The latter was certainly unique – at times looking like a nature documentary, at others a bizarre musical, and eventually trying to peddle an environmentalist message. Surf's Up has no such lofty ideals, instead taking the 'mockumentary' approach where the characters are interviewed by off-camera filmmakers. The concept resembles Aardman Animations' Creature Comforts shorts, and while this feature-length equivalent lacks some of its inspiration's wit, it does manage to possess a certain charm.
The plot concerns a young penguin named Corey's love of surfing and desire to compete in the Annual Big Z Memorial Trophy, the biggest surfing competition around (Big Z being the most famous surfer ever, who died in a wave-related incident). Inevitably, a talent scout shows up in his hometown - Shiverpool, Antarctica - and Corey finds himself transported to the tropical paradise where the event takes place. The now-ubiquitous Shia LaBeouf voices Corey Maverick and puts in a decent, if unmemorable, effort. The really fun roles are reserved for the supporting cast. John Heder gets some of the best laughs as a dopey chicken, for some reason seemingly the only non-penguin to surf, and Jeff Bridges recalls his iconic The Big Lebowski 'Dude' personality. Also entertaining are the minor characters like the baby penguin who keeps wandering off into the sea unsupervised and James Woods' Don King-alike otter surfing promoter.
Visually, the film is stunning; waves and water have never been simulated so effectively in CGI, Finding Nemo included, and the tropical island on which much of the action takes place is constantly bathed in beautiful golden sunshine like the best picture postcard. Unfortunately the visual splendour is not used to its full potential, in order to continue with the documentary feel, and the actual surfing scenes are disappointingly short. Indeed, short could describe the whole film, as it clocks in at a brief 80-odd minutes. Despite its brevity, though, there are passages that lack inspiration and drag somewhat, making the thin and generic plot feel overstretched. Not brilliant, then, but certainly better than Happy Feet.
The summary
Just another CG movie it may be, but Surf's Up original and appealing approach to a tired narrative makes it satisfying enough.
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