Sunday, February 24, 2008

Surf's Up (2007) (nat)

We watched this last night in prep for the Oscar's. When the film was in theaters, I wasn't too interested in it. It looked stupid. But it's actually very good. It's about Cody, a little Antarctic penguin, who loves surfing and idolizes the big surfer of his childhood, Big Z. Cody isn't all that talented but he manages to get accepted into a contest on Pen Gu Island. There his love of surfing is tested. What makes this one a little more interesting than your average animated movie is that the whole thing is set up like a documentary. There are unseen documentary makers following Cody and the other penguins (oh, and a chicken, Chicken Joe) and asking them questions. A small section is made to look like ESPN footage, complete with slow motion and repeated footage. Also fun is the cast of voices: Shia LeBeouf, Jeff Daniels, Zooey Deschanel, Jon Heder, and James Woods, amongst others.

I admit being surprised but it's a cute, clever, funny story, the animation is first rate, and, most importantly, no penguins die :-)

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