Surf's Up

Surf's Up is a computer animated film about talking penguins who surf. That line is enough for most people to stab themselves in the eye lest they have to actually sit through the thing thanks to the young kids in their lives forcing them to take them for 85 minutes of skull crushing torture that is unfunny fart gag after unfunny seagull shitting on someone's head gag (that was a long, clumsy sentence and I apologise profusely for it, just like the fact that i now apologise for prolonging said long sentence with this pointless insert about how long it is and apologising for its length). Of course Pixar are to blame for this sad state of affairs. They raised our expectations that kid's films could be genuinely brilliant. The fact that their films were computer animated was inconsequential. They simply were brilliant, leading to people going to see them in their millions. Inevitably the money men sensed a new fad. Before you could find Nemo traditional animation wings were shut and the swarm of run-of-the-mill fuzzy creature kid pish came forth, the only difference with these films were the 3-D graphics. For a while the public bought it, it's all shiny and new so it must be good. Or the George Lucas approach to filmaking. Quickly though came the realisation that it's all the same old guff just flashier. Soon animation will come full circle and the biggest craze will feature a couple of matchstick men staring at each other. No narrative, just staring. And the public will lap it up, because it looks so different.

Surf's Up will suffer thanks to this situation. And that is a great shame. It's a pretty excellent little film in all honesty. Its masterstroke lies in something that is no great innovation, unless you choose to do it in a computer animated film about surfing penguins - make it a mockumentary. As such there's a laid-backed feel to Surf's Up completely at odds with its seemingly manic set-up. The dialogue feels improvised as characters speak directly to camera.

This helps further with the almost stoner air at work and alot of that is down to the cast. The makers have taken the Pixar approach, casting really good actors who's voices may ring a bell so that the animated characters are just that, characters. You care about them thanks to the likes of Shia LeBouf, James Woods and The Dude himself Jeff Bridges. Honestly, did you give a flying rat's buttock about any of the characters in A Shark's Tale? No. Who cares if Will Smith's in it, he's pish in just about everything and just because he can carry I, Robot at the box office doesn't mean he's a good voice talent. And don't get me started on De Niro further destroying his reputation for a little bit of cash. When a Woods turns up it's because he actually has experience doing cartoon voice acting. Bridges is simply doing a kiddie reprise of the Big Lebowski, so in other words he's brilliant.

The mockumentary set-up also helps with much of Surf's Up's humour. Many a joke is derided from the realisation that cameras are present, or through documentary editing techniques such as the filmmakers obliging when Cody boasts that they will want to show his first ride again and again. Also the fate of Cody and Chicken Joe's fathers represented in photo form provide two of the most laugh out loud things I've seen in a long time, and I laugh like a bloody trumpet on a daily basis! as I said, the mockumentary framing is nothing new in itself but when applied in this context it becomes incredibly fresh, as does the computer animated film thanks to it. Shamefully we'll probably see quite a few like this now, of inferior quality.

Don't get me wrong, Surf's Up isn't in any way perfect. The plot is also nothing new, but unlike the framing this is not a good point. You'll see the twists coming a mile off, but then this is for kids so I wouldn't get all smug about that fact. Also it's probably the only major grumble with the film, and how often do you really find an original plot?

Surf's Up's strengths lie elsewhere. It's a computer animated kids film that isn't out to razzle-dazzle you with incredible visuals, although they are very nice, especially the use of hand-held camera in a computer-generated world. Instead it's a film willing to pull you into its world and let you become attached to its characters, all the while charming you with its humour. This is why it's sad that Surf's Up will be vastly overlooked by most as it stands above most films this year, computer animated kiddie fair or not. You could blame it on Pixar, or just the unoriginal toss that followed in their wake. Either way, Surf's Up deserves better.