Advanced Search >
Help Me Search

Movies

Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores

Wide Releases
Now In Theaters

sort by namesort by score

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Limited Releases
Now In Theaters

sort by namesort by score

58 (Untitled)
96 35 Shots of Rum
56 Adam
39 Adventures of Power
66 Afterschool
73 Amreeka
49 Antichrist
76 Baader Meinhof Complex, The
86 Beaches of Agnes, The
71 Big Fan
65 Black Dynamite
76 Bliss
26 Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
44 Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
81 Bright Star
76 Broken Embraces
70 Bronson
62 Cloud 9
65 Coco Before Chanel
69 Cold Souls
60 Collapse
82 Cove, The
75 Crude
82 Damned United, The
53 Dare
50 Defamation
67 Departures
70 Earth Days
85 Education, An
55 Endgame
88 Fantastic Mr. Fox
31 Fix
49 Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80 Food, Inc.
xx From Mexico with Love
28 Gentlemen Broncos
72 Good Hair
89 Goodbye Solo
63 Horse Boy, The
74 House of the Devil, The
xx How to Seduce Difficult Women
26 I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
70 It Might Get Loud
46 Killing Kasztner
43 Little Traitor, The
34 Looking for Palladin
80 Lorna's Silence
46 Love Hurts
84 Maid, The
45 Mammoth
75 Messenger, The
55 Missing Person, The
59 More Than a Game
34 Motherhood
62 My One and Only
48 New York, I Love You
66 No Impact Man
26 Oh My God
68 Paranormal Activity
68 Paris
79 Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
73 Red Cliff
69 September Issue, The
79 Serious Man, A
65 Skin
41 Splinterheads
42 Staten Island
50 Stoning of Soraya M., The
58 Storm
82 Sun, The
49 Ten9Eight: Shoot for the Moon
73 That Evening Sun
61 Trucker
49 Turning Green
83 U2 3D
45 Uncertainty
67 Visual Acoustics
32 War on Kids
67 Way We Get By, The
65 Wedding Song, The
xx White on Rice
59 William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe
74 Woman in Berlin, A
43 Women in Trouble
69 Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Surf's Up

EMAILPRINTColumbia Pictures / Sony Pictures Entertainment

Surf's Up reviews
64
8.4 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 26 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 25 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >

Movie Info

Genre(s): Action  |  Adventure  |  Comedy  |  Family/Kids

Written by: Lisa Addario
Christian Darren
Don Rhymer
Joe Syracuse

Directed by: Ash Brannon
Chris Buck

Release Date:
Theatrical: June 8, 2007
DVD: October 9, 2007

Running Time: 85 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: PG for mild language and some rude humor

Starring Shia LaBeouf, Jeff Bridges, Zooey Deschanel, Jon Heder, James Woods, Diedrich Bader, Mario Cantone, and Kelly Slater

Surf's Up is an animated comedy that delves behind the scenes of the high-octane world of competitive surfing. (Sony)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

83

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

An animated family movie about penguins -- in the wake of "March of the Happy Feet," they're the Angelina Jolie of animals, both cute and admired everywhere. Plus, it's about surfing.

Read Full Review >
83

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

Best of all is Jeff Bridges as the voice of Geek, a laid-back philosopher-penguin who becomes Cody's low-key guru, mentoring him in the ways of the wave.

Read Full Review >
75

Boston Globe Michelle Kung

The most colorful of the penguin 'toons to date, both figuratively and literally.

Read Full Review >
75

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

Not only are LaBeouf and Bridges terrific, but Jon Heder is hilarious as surfing fowl Chicken Joe. And Zooey Deschanel is saucy fun as penguin lifeguard Lani.

Read Full Review >
75

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

What makes Surf's Up stand out is its look and texture.

Read Full Review >
75

ReelViews James Berardinelli

If you have to see one penguin movie, this is it.

Read Full Review >
75

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub

The entertaining new film from Sony Pictures Animation is a nice surprise, and the rare mainstream American kid film.

Read Full Review >
75

Premiere Paul Semel

Up will still make you feel like you've caught a big wave.

Read Full Review >
75

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Has its own peculiar, loose-knit kind of charm.

Read Full Review >
75

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

A cut above the noisy, pop-culture joke-larded norm, and it's much more than a "Happy Feet" knockoff.

Read Full Review >
75

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

Surf's Up is that rarity in a children's movie, a comedy that's actually exciting.

Read Full Review >
70

Los Angeles Times Kevin Crust

A clever, delightfully rendered summer diversion.

Read Full Review >
70

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

It's cool but not too cool, and cute but not too cute. A neat trick considering its overexposed avian cast.

Read Full Review >
70

Village Voice Ella Taylor

If you have to see another penguin blockbuster, you could do worse than this loose-limbed charmer.

Read Full Review >
70

New York Magazine David Edelstein

Don't worry, parents, only you--and not your 5-year-old--will get that the chicken's stoned out of his gourd.

Read Full Review >
70

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

A cheerful and frequently amusing bit of nonsense, which certainly will provoke children into giggles. The film does not measure up to "March of the Penguins" or "Happy Feet," both Oscar-winning efforts. Nor is it trying to.

Read Full Review >
70

Variety Peter Debruge

Every bit as entertaining as the early Christopher Guest efforts.

Read Full Review >
67

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

The film's greatest triumph, at least on a technical level, is the amazing texture of the water, which has never looked so dramatic or convincing in an animated film.

Read Full Review >
67

The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson

Mostly, it just stands out in a crowded field of tacky also-rans by being a reasonably acceptable, more or less non-obnoxious way to spend an hour and a half.

Read Full Review >
63

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

Where Surf's Up falls down is in its central relationships. (A few more jokes wouldn't have hurt either).

Read Full Review >
63

USA Today Claudia Puig

First they marched, then they tap-danced. Now they ride the waves on souped-up boards. It really doesn't matter what stunts they try to pull off: Who can resist an animated mockumentary in the style of "This Is Spinal Tap" starring the black-and-white big birds of the moment?

Read Full Review >
63

New York Post Kyle Smith

Doesn't do enough with a righteous premise.

Read Full Review >
63

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

The voice performances are great, particularly those from LaBeouf and Bridges, who's in a "Big Lebowski" mood. But a moratorium on penguin movies may be in order.

Read Full Review >
50

The New York Times Jeannette Catsoulis

Has a friendly, blue-collar vibe (Cody is an ex-fish-sorter from the Shiverpool, Antarctica) and some sly, low-key humor. Nevertheless, a moratorium on penguins might be called for, despite the inevitable anthropomorphic void.

Read Full Review >
40

Austin Chronicle Marrit Ingman

There's nothing terribly wrong with Surf's Up, except maybe the part where one character calls another a "dirty trash can full of poop." But the movie isn't terribly robust, either.

Read Full Review >
30

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

The novelty wears off almost immediately, leaving this a real chore to watch; there's something bizarre about low-budget spontaneity being replicated in such a labor-intensive medium.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 8.4 (out of 10) based on 25 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Alex L. gave it a10:
The movie is cool and funny. Besides surfing, a penguin toots and one penguin calls another penguin a dirty trash can full of poop. This was why the movie is cool and funny.

Streetsy gave it a10:
Seriously under rated. I enjoyed this film immensely and have watched it 5 times already. The animation, (for all those animation nerds out there like me) is top notch. The CG is fantastic. And the story is great.

A K gave it a6:
It wasn't bad and the mockumentary style was fresh, but it's nowhere near as good as Ratatoille.

Chad S. gave it a6:
"Surf's Up" presents itself as a faux-doc and actually manages to be more objective than a real nature documentary film like "Winged Migration". The fake crew doesn't come to Cody's aid when he's drowning, or stop a tribe of wild penguins from converting Chicken Joe(Joe Heder) into a soup base. Worst of all, they allow Cody(Shia LeBeouf) to leave home on a whale without notifying his parents. The notion of a documentary film, however, falls apart completely when Cody and Lani(Zooey Deschanel) shoot down a lava tube. There is no way a camera crew could've captured their torrid ride. "Surf's Up" is at its best when Big Z(Jeff Bridges) mentors Cody even though the vocal work by both Bridges and Shia LeBeouf are a little off the mark. The MTV-style surf contest seems too routine, in comparison to the film's ambitious beginning of establishing Cody's roots in Antarctica, complete with interviews and voiceovers.

Jared C gave it a10:
A fun gripping animation film with epic and exciting sports action.

Sam J. gave it a10:
Surfs up is a great movie with funny penguins. Hearing some of the jokes will make you laugh so hard.

Paul K. gave it a9:
Extremely well done. Worth seeing in the theater or a must on video.

Read more user comments >

Popular on CBS sites: SEC Football | NFL | Video Game Cheats | iPhone | Video Game Reviews | Notebooks | Antivirus Software

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy (UPDATED) | Terms of Use