Surf's Up

[mcnooj82]

Swear I've read people discussing this movie on CHUD, but perhaps it's always been on threads for other movies.

Anyway, I recently purchased this on blu-ray and it is an absolutely gorgeous-looking film with a familiar but totally solid story told with flair (the documentary approach in this case). Like Kung Fu Panda.

I'm glad Cloudy with Meatballs worked out OK for Sony Imageworks. The movie didn't fare so well at the box office. Not a failure by any means ($150 million worldwide), but not so impressive in the light of the big boys (Pixar, Dreamworks, Blue Sky, and Disney itself).

That final shot of the lead characters surfing through a tube of waves in slow-motion basked in glorious magic hour lighting? My god...

I guess James Berardinelli doesn't agree. I DON'T UNDERSTAND!!!

If there's a downside to Surf's Up, it's that the animation is far from cutting edge. It's not ugly or unaccomplished by any means but, when stacked against the visual splendor of the otherwise unappetizing Shrek the Third, it looks second rate. The visuals in Surf's Up are good enough to tell the story, but no more. No one is going to rhapsodize about the poetry of the film's images. Nevertheless, the screenplay is of high enough quality that one is willing to look past the fact that this isn't the best animated feature of 2007.

Huuuuuh!?