Penguins are much better surfers than they are dancers. In Happy Feet, they just wobbled a few tap dance numbers, but in Surf's Up they boogie woogie it down.
I know, I know, there are too many penguin movies out there. I did side with that rationale of why I'm not going to see Surf's Up until I came back from my own surfing adventures in Oahu. It is completely different than the other black and white bird flicks. It's loose, fast, and colorful, but not too overly bright like Shrek the Third.
Surf's Up is on its own pedestal and sets itself apart from the other computer animated genre (penguin and non-penguin movies). First of all, its overall vibe is peaceful. There's a Hawaiian positive energy that puts the biggest smile on your face and makes you want to "put the lime in the coconut and drink it all up" by the beach. It's shot as if it was a documentary/reality show. The story's point-of-view is told by an omniscient camera crew that does everything possible to get the surfing shots and the perfect quotes for the film.
The star of the movie is Cody Maverick (voiced by Shia LaBeouf). He's an adolescent penguin who wants to get out of his home in Antarctica where there is no surfing culture whatsoever. A little dancing maybe, but definitely not surfing. The first chance he gets, he takes it, and hops on a whale that takes him to a tropical lo-cal where an international surfing competition is being held. Having no experience riding on an actual surf board (he only surfed on blocks of ice back home) he wipes out his first time riding the pipeline against a cocky 9-time surfing champion named Tank Evans (voiced by Diedrich Bader). Cody is taken ashore and brought to Geek's house, a lazy plump penguin that just likes to eat clams and play the ukulele. The story takes a twist when Cody learns that Geek (voiced by Jeff "The Dude" Bridges) is Cody's surfing legend, "Big Z." Big Z takes Cody under his wing and teaches him the key fundamentals to riding a good wave: relax, hang loose, and don't worry about winning, just ride the wave.
Surf's Up is a very simple movie that is pumped with action and at least three big hearty laughs. There are a few side characters like Chicken Joe (voiced by Jon Heder) and Reggie (voiced by James Woods) that put the cherry on top.
Unfortunately, Arizona State University doesn't have a surfing team, so I guess we have to do the next best thing to get into the tropical surfing culture, have a tropical drink at Trader Vic's or Drift and let the imagination go crazy.
I give Surf's Up 4.5 Roses out of 5.
