Happy Feet may have been the Oscar-winner and bigger box office hit back in 2006, but the wheels of time have seen Surf’s Up emerge as a legitimate challenger for the title of Best Computer-Animated Penguin Movie From the Mid-2000s. A peculiar mash-up of surfing and penguins, Surf’s Up is told through a mockumentary format, following a group of penguins in a surfing contest. Though directors Ash Brannon and ChrisBuck occasionally deviate from the mockumentary style for a handful of set pieces, the majority of the movie leans on familiar devices like handheld camerawork and characters speaking directly to the camera that were popular in comedies at the time.
It’s a unique quality that results in some of the funniest moments of the movie while a string of memorable vocal performances (particularly Jeff Bridges as essentially a penguin version of The Dude) also deliver their fair share of memorable laughs. The narrative in Surf’s Up about what it means to be a winner is certainly familiar. However, the execution of that narrative has enough unique qualities to make the movie a wave worth riding.
