By Tatsuya King
Sony Pictures Animation brings you a thrilling tale about a surfing penguin named Cody Maverick in his quest to achieve ultimate surfing ability. The main part of this story takes place on Pen Gu island where the annual Big Z memorial surfing contest is taking place. Maverick, along with dozens of other penguins, is there to compete for the prize and the glory of winning. Throughout the events of this film, Cody Maverick learns that the power of friendship is stronger and more important than any surfing trophy he could ever win.
Cody comes from the south pole, a cold solemn wasteland of worn out old penguins that is also one of two locations in the story. Here, he is the only penguin who surfs. Everyone else is stuck in their boring jobs laboring endlessly in a sad cycle of work. Much like most teens, he feels like the world is against him and dreams of a place where he can surf and be free. His love of surfing all stems from his early encounter with his idol, Big Z, a legendary surfer who died tragically in a horrific surfing accident.
As the story progresses we meet a host of wacky characters, each so well done yet also 2-dimensional that viewers will be able to understand and enjoy them instantly. Among these characters, one of the more notable is Chicken Joe, a hippie chicken who befriends Cody through the surfing competition and bonds with Cody over their mutual lack of a father. We also meet Tank Evans, local “bad boy” and nine time surfing competition winner. He is also the main antagonist of the movie, beating Cody early on in a one on one surfing battle.
The style of this film resembles many fake-documentary TV shows like The Office and Parks and Recreation. Throughout the story, Cody is followed by a faceless documentary crew, filming him and the surfing competition. Interviews with different characters are often used to add narrative, character and even comedy. Much like TV shows of the same style, Surf’s Up does a great job of being a fake documentary, sneaking in boom mikes, camera jostles when following someone and even cracking the lens when something is thrown at it. You have to ignore some of the minor logic flaws – like the documentary crew filming Cody before he was accepted into the surfing competition, or Cody being filmed while he was sliding through a super tube, and even surfing talking penguins. But if you are able to ignore these logic errors, you’ll be able to enjoy an extremely unique movie filled with jokes and scenarios only possible through this style of film.
This Oscar-nominated film (yes, Oscar-nominated film) combines playful childlike themes with life threatening scenarios and insanely epic surfing mega tricks. While some people may think that the characters in this film (with exception to the chicken) would be hard to tell apart, because they are all penguins but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Each character is completely different from the others. Some are fat, tiny, have hair, have eyebrows or even tattoos that all help make each character visually unique.
Even though this movie is targeted toward young kids, many of it’s themes and jokes can be enjoyed by people of any age. The animation look and feel is very similar to other Sony movies like Open Season 1 and Open Season 2 incorporating funny cartoon animals with somewhat realistic motion and physics. There is also a distinct grainy effect to this movie that further adds to the documentary feel.
The world that Surf’s Up sets up is truly wonderful and filled with lore. In the beginning of the film we see Egyptian hieroglyphs, ancient Japanese paintings, even cave paintings, all depicting penguins surfing throughout history. Viewers who choose to dig deep into the mythology of Surf’s Up will uncover the rich history of these penguins, answering many unanswered questions like: Do all penguins love surfing? Are there humans in this world? Were there ever humans? How did the penguins invent cameras? Are there other human inventions in this world? How do penguins hold things when they don’t have thumbs or fingers? Do penguins live all over the world or just in specific places? Why are there only a few animals other than penguins? Can all animals talk and have feelings? If so, what animals are turned into food? Is there a hierarchy of animals? Are animals treated differently based on their species?
In conclusion, Sony’s Surf’s Up gets a 14/15 Tatsuya Score for its good messages, creative and funny story, and its uniqueness. Surf’s Up stands out from many other movies of its time. It’s silly premise and unique style all worked together to make this movie memorable. Kids who watch this movie at a young age will probably remember Chicken Joe, or Tank Evans for a lot longer than they would Boog or Elliot (from Open Season). Even for older audiences, who think they’re too cool for this movie, I guarantee that some part of Cody’s adventure will make you laugh, cry, yell “whoopie!” or feel some sort of emotion other than blank stares. But the best part is that the movie gives viewers a genuine feel for surfing, whether it be the exhilaration of riding a wave or just feeling the water glide by your hand. There are so many scenes in this movie where characters are just enjoying surfing without a care in the world. Even if you don’t laugh at the jokes, this movie so perfectly depicts the joy of surfing that it makes you want to be there on that beach with the characters.