Surf's Up (2007)
★★½ — Surf's Up (2007)
By 2007, animated features from major Hollywood studios had settled into a fairly familiar rhythm: a likeable underdog, a colourful supporting cast, and a feel-good resolution neatly packaged in about 90 minutes. Surf's Up arrives squarely within that tradition, though it does at least attempt something a little different with its framing device. The film presents itself as a mock documentary (or "mockumentary", if you prefer), following Cody Maverick, a young penguin from Shiverpool, Antarctica, as he chases his dream of competing in the Big Z Memorial Surf Off on Pen Gu Island. It is a premise that borrows the visual grammar of fly-on-the-wall documentary filmmaking and drops it into an animated family comedy, which, on paper at least, suggests a willingness to play with form rather than simply repeat it. Whether that ambition is fully realised is another matter, and it is the kind of question that makes the film worth discussing at all.
The picture was co-directed by Ash Brannon and Chris Buck, the latter having previously helmed Tarzan (1999) for Disney before moving to Sony Pictures Animation. Produced under the Sony Pictures Animation banner and distributed by Columbia Pictures, Surf's Up arrived in the same summer season as several other animated releases, meaning it faced a crowded marketplace and the unavoidable comparisons that come with it. The production team put considerable effort into researching real surf culture, reportedly consulting professional surfers and studying wave physics to give the animation a sense of physical weight and authenticity, and the results in those sequences are polished but unremarkable by the standards of the era's better-funded rivals. For a sense of how another animation from around this period handles its material, it is worth glancing at the site's look at Trolls or the rather more sober Josep, both animated films reviewed here that sit at very different ends of the ambition scale.
The voice cast is, on paper, a strong one. Shia LaBeouf, who was very much in the ascendant at this point in his career (his work that same year in Transformers is reviewed elsewhere on the site), voices Cody with an energetic, slightly nasal eagerness that suits the character well enough. Jeff Bridges brings the kind of weathered, unhurried warmth he does so reliably, playing a reclusive surf legend with a past, while Zooey Deschanel occupies the cheerful, grounded love interest role with easy charm. Jon Heder and James Woods round out the ensemble, the latter particularly well cast as a slick, self-promoting surf promoter. The voice performances are, across the board, relaxed and naturalistic, which fits the mockumentary conceit rather well, even if the material does not always give them much to work with.
Surf's Up (2007) is the very definition of animated middle ground. A perfectly serviceable kids' film that neither offends nor inspires. The mockumentary format, following a young penguin (Shia LaBeouf) chasing surf stardom in Antarctica, shows flickers of cleverness: handheld camerawork, talking-head interviews, and a self-aware tone that occasionally lands. The voice cast (Jeff Bridges as a grizzled surf legend, Zooey Deschanel as a sunny lifeguard) delivers with relaxed charm, and the animation captures the fluidity of ocean waves with respectable skill. But beyond its competent execution, the film offers little to distinguish itself. The story follows a paint-by-numbers sports-underdog arc without subverting or refreshing the formula. The humour oscillates between mildly amusing and utterly forgettable, the emotional beats feel basic, and the third act pivots into sentimentality that undercuts its earlier breezy tone. It's the kind of film that fills 90 minutes without demanding anything of the audience. A harmless diversion that succeeds only in its modest aims. Perfectly adequate for a rainy afternoon with young children, instantly forgettable for everyone else.
That assessment of polished adequacy does rather stick with me. I find myself thinking about Surf's Up the way you think about a decent enough sandwich from a motorway service station: it did the job at the time and you have no strong feelings about it either way. The mockumentary angle is the one genuine spark of originality here, and it is a shame the script does not lean into it with more confidence or consistency. There is a better, sharper film hiding somewhere inside this one, possibly 20 minutes shorter and considerably less interested in wringing tears from its finale. As it stands, it is fine, and fine is about as much as you can honestly say. Sometimes that is enough, but it rarely makes for an animated film anyone is still talking about 18 years on.
Rating: ★★½ | Year: 2007 | Watched: 2026-04-09
Trailer
▶ Watch the official trailer for Surf's Up (2007) on YouTube
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Related on Movies With Macca
More from Chris Buck: Tarzan (1999) · Frozen II (2019) · Frozen (2013)
More from the 2000s: Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005) · Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) · Daredevil (2003) · Apocalypto (2006)
More animation: Fantastic Planet (1973) · Alice in Wonderland (1951) · Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain (2024) · Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II - The Ashes of Rage (2025)
More comedy: The Eagle (1925) · The General (1926) · Americana (2023) · The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
