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Welcome to Reel People. It’s a place where, you guessed it, real people like yourselves spout off on new movie releases. It works best if you - yes, we mean you - jump into the forum link below and tell us what you think of the movie, too.
This week, we’re watching Surf’s Up.
What I Liked: Having the story presented as a documentary about the Penguin World Surfing Championship was clever. Through on-camera “interviews” and off-camera asides, the audience was quickly introduced to most of the main characters and their back stories within the first few minutes. Some people might be tired of penguins by now, but I’m not. Having hip, animated penguins surfing at the beach puts a new spin on these well-known and well-loved birds.
I got a kick out of Chicken Joe, the stoner surfer chicken voiced by Jon Heder. And who doesn’t love adorable animated baby penguins that make you laugh out loud every time they’re on screen?
What I Disliked: It was only entertaining and not hilarious. Madagascar and Ice Age were funnier. Even Shark Tale was better, to me. Also, several plot points seemed to be repeats of scenes from other animated films.
Would I Recommend? Yes. It’s cute and I think kids will like it.
6 out of 10
- Lisa Ciurro
What I Liked: Contrary to most animated films, “Surf’s Up” is made to look like a documentary which follows young Cody, a penguin from Antarctica who dreams to win a famous surfing contest. The competition is held every year in memory of Big Z, Cody’s role model, who supposedly died in a tragic surfing accident, though his body was never recovered. Although to many, the content might seem similar to that of “Happy Feet,” this film has almost nothing in common other than the animals portrayed. On that fact, there is a line in the film that pokes fun at “Happy Feet” in which Cody is asked if he has any talents, to which he responds, “What do you mean, like singing or dancing? (Chuckle) No, nothing like that, just surfing.” Writing for the film was witty and not bland, but at the same time, would get old if viewed more than once. Production for the film was very impressive. From the character animation and landscape designs to voice-acting, designers did a great job.
What I Disliked: Aside from the designers wanting to milk the overall cuteness value of penguins into a giant vat of money, the film honestly didn’t bring that much more to the table that wasn’t already there before. The crew did choose a nice plot to follow, but there is a giant ocean of possibilites, pun intended, that could have been added to this film to make it more impressive.
Would I Recommend? “Surf’s Up” was definitely entertaining, did not feel forced and had a great moral for children. I did enjoy this film because it included some impressive visuals, creative humor, and some actual voice over from professional surfers like Kelly Slater and Rob Machado. It is not up to the caliber of “Nemo” or “Wallace & Gromit,” but it is a cute flick for parents and their children to watch.
7 out of 10
- Nizar Babul
