Surf's Up

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2:30

Surf's Up

PG

Released Jun 8, 2007

1h 25m

Kids & Family

Comedy

Adventure

Animation

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

79%

Tomatometer

147 Reviews

70%

Popcornmeter

250,000+ Ratings

Surfing means everything to teenage penguin Cody Maverick (Shia LaBeouf). Followed by a documentary film crew, he leaves his home in Antarctica for Pen Gu Island, site of the the Big Z Memorial Surf Off. Cody wants to be respected and admired, and he believes that winning the competition will bring him what he craves. However, an encounter with washed-up surfer Geek (Jeff Bridges) teaches Cody about what is truly important.

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Critics Consensus

Surf's Up is a laid back, visually stunning animated movie that brings a fresh twist to some familiar conventions. Its witty mockumentary format is fun and inventive, and the CGI is breathtakingly realistic.

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Time Out

Rated: 4/5

Nov 18, 2011

Full Review

TIME Magazine

Not a comedy tsunami, just consistent ripples of laughs and good vibes.

Sep 9, 2008

Full Review

Paul Byrnes

Sydney Morning Herald

It's fun for a while, but the script doesn't have the structure to sustain 85 minutes.

Rated: 3/4

Sep 21, 2007

Full Review

Megan Basham

WORLD

On the surface, this may not sound like a particularly original idea, but director Ash Brannon handles the "documentary" framing device so well, adults may forget they are watching a cartoon.

Oct 16, 2018

Full Review

Brandy McDonnell

The Oklahoman

What truly sets Surf's Up apart is the natural dialogue. The filmmakers brought the actors together to record their lines, an unusual step for an animated movie. The extra effort pays off.

Rated: 3.5/4

Aug 14, 2018

Full Review

Pablo Villaça

Cinema em Cena

O estilo mockumentary confere charme a esta animação, que também se beneficia da dublagem perfeita de Bridges e de uma técnica impressionante (a animação de fluidos é fabulosa).

Rated: 3/5

Sep 17, 2008

Full Review

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Potato S

It’s the guy from transformes

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/18/25

Full Review

Nykolle A

Consensus: I will be showing my children this, so they know what true humor is. This movie is a wolf in sheep's clothing, and I still have not found a movie that makes me laugh half as hard. Incredible animation, that holds up over a decade later. It looks better than most animated films nowadays.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/02/25

Full Review

Cavanagh W

I’ve watched this movie over 75 times. Mostly after a night out. This first half of the movie is fantastic, but I don’t usually make it to the second half, so I can’t really judge that part of it. That being said, highly recommend.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/27/24

Full Review

Anne P

Very cute and funny. Good for any family looking for a movie.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

12/11/24

Full Review

Nick R

Laid back and filled with funny voice acting performances, Surf's Up is a simple but fun animated film that subverts the normal kid's movie tropes in favor of a rockumentary style fun time.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/27/24

Full Review

Jay W

In many regards this movie is a product of its time. You look at 2007 and take all things that were popular and combine them into one movie: you got yourself "Surf's Up". For the voice cast we have Shia LeBeouf and Napoleon Dynamite's Jon Heder. Make it an animated movie about penguins and film it in an "Office" style mockumentary format and you got something guaranteed to be a big hit in 2007 but doesn't have much staying power beyond that. The first thing people saw when they saw the trailer for this was, haven't we had enough penguin movies? "Happy Feet" has just won the Best Animated Picture Oscar the previous year. And the year before that "March of the Penguins" had won an Oscar for Best Documentary. This film seemed to just be riding the wave of penguin popularity. The movie does do enough to separate itself from those other films. Where those movies mainly took place in some version of the real world, "Surf's Up" is a bit more out there. Not all of this is for the better, the movie has a lot of low brow humor. A lot of slapstick and easy jokes. The characters aren't all that likable, the jokes aren't all that funny, and the story feels like it just drags. Most of it all takes place within the same 3 locations, the movie just seems to be treading water waiting for its 85-minute runtime to end. The surf might be up, but I can't give this film a thumbs up.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

11/26/24

Full Review

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Ash Brannon

Director

Chris Buck

Director

Shia LaBeouf

Cody Maverick

Jeff Bridges

Geek

Zooey Deschanel

Lani Aliikai

Jon Heder

Chicken Joe

Surf's Up: Official Clip - A Surefire Cure

2:40

Surf's Up: Official Clip - Building Cody's Board

2:51

Surf's Up: Official Clip - Cody vs. Tank Surf Off

2:48

Surf's Up: Official Clip - Big Z Returns

2:23

Surf's Up: Official Clip - Chicken Joe's Hot Tub

1:12

Surf's Up: Official Clip - The Competition Begins

2:13

Surf's Up: Official Clip - Let's Surf!

3:02

Surf's Up: Official Clip - The Final Wave

2:24

Surf's Up: Official Clip - Surfing Documentary

3:06

Surf's Up: Official Clip - Lava Boarding

2:40

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Surf's Up: Trailer 2

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Surf's Up: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

Surfing means everything to teenage penguin Cody Maverick (Shia LaBeouf). Followed by a documentary film crew, he leaves his home in Antarctica for Pen Gu Island, site of the the Big Z Memorial Surf Off. Cody wants to be respected and admired, and he believes that winning the competition will bring him what he craves. However, an encounter with washed-up surfer Geek (Jeff Bridges) teaches Cody about what is truly important.

Director: Ash Brannon, Chris Buck
Producer: Christopher Jenkins
Screenwriter: Don Rhymer, Ash Brannon, Chris Buck, Christopher Jenkins
Production Co: Sony Pictures Animation
Rating: PG (Some Rude Humor|Mild Language)
Genre: Kids & Family, Comedy, Adventure, Animation
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 8, 2007, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 2, 2014
Runtime: 1h 25m
Sound Mix: Dolby SRD, DTS, SDDS
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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