SURF'S UP (2007) *1/2 An animated faux documentary about the exciting penguin surfing championship. Well, I did think that had possibilities. There's a lot of music, but no Beach Boys. Or Pablo Cruise. Or, taking it another direction, there's no Suicidal Tendencies or Dirty Rotten Imbeciles. Ok, but....well, that documentary nonsense does nothing but get in the way of a very formulaic story. Which, to clarify, is not good. The story by itself could have probably withstood itself, but it's weakened by the distraction of the docudrama impossibilities, very few of which are realized. The animation of the water is very good though, they've obviously translated the real stuff through some animation filters well, it looks and moves right. They also start to try and make some point about the heart of surfing versus an encroaching commercial (lack of) ethic, but never really explain what the point might be, other than there probably is one. Then, if you watch it on tv, you'll get interrupted by commercials, which may actually help them make the point they're looking for. So there's not quite enough to it to call it a missed opportunity, but there are a few minor good ideas in there somewhere, and it does eventually pick up momentum, some.
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