Surf's Up

Surf's Up is a 2007 American computer-animated mockumentary comedy film directed by Ash Brannon and Chris Buck. It features the voices of Shia LaBeouf, Jeff Bridges, Zooey Deschanel, Jon Heder, Mario Cantone, James Woods, and Diedrich Bader among others.

Plot
Surfing means everything to teenage penguin Cody Maverick (Shia LaBeouf). Followed by a documentary film crew, he leaves his home in Antarctica for Pen Gu Island, site of the the Big Z Memorial Surf Off. Cody wants to be respected and admired, and he believes that winning the competition will bring him what he craves. However, an encounter with washed-up surfer Geek (Jeff Bridges) teaches Cody about what is truly important.

Why The Tides Are High

 * 1) Great voice acting.
 * 2) The film is a clever parody of surfing documentaries such as The Endless Summer and Rising Giants.
 * 3) The animation is gorgeous and beautiful with excellent visuals that look like they came from a Pixar film.
 * 4) Let's resume on with previous pointer: Similar to Shrek, The Polar Express and Happy Feet, it has very nice complex and realistic character designs.
 * 5) Several likable characters.
 * 6) Unique plot twists such as Geek/Zeke being revealed as the Big Z.
 * 7) Chicken Joe is a very funny comic relief and steals the whole show especially because of Jon Heder's great voice work.
 * 8) A lot of the jokes are funny and clever.
 * 9) Amazing soundtrack composed by Mychael Danna.
 * 10) Pen Gu Island looks great in this film.
 * 11) The film looks like it was filmed from a hand-held camera because the film's animation team motion-captured a physical camera operator's moves.
 * 12) The film has good pacing such as the surfing scene.
 * 13) The film even features cameos by real-life surfers as penguins such as Ash Brannon, Chris Buck, and Sal Masekela.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Some disturbing moments such as Geek peeing on Cody's injured foot, which is just plain disgusting.
 * 2) Glen, Cody's older brother, is a bit unlikable.
 * 3) Plot hole: After Cody talks to Lani for the first time, he and Chicken Joe walk away talking. Cody mentions Lani by name; however, Lani never told Cody her name. Same problem goes to Ice Age: The Meltdown.
 * 4) The sequel was just plain horrible.

Videos
hwqPWxJW54Y