Surf’s Up 2: Wave Mania Review

surfs-up2-3There are some projects that are just bad ideas. You get the most brilliant writers around and they might be passable films but the ideas are bad. Surf’s Up 2: WaveMania is one of those films. It’s just a bad idea from beginning to end. It’s such a bad idea that Sony, the studio behind Smurf’s 2 and the Emoji Movie, didn’t even have the confidence to release it in the theater.  It is an absolutely atrocious film in every way including the fact it stinks up a charming original film.

After all, Surf’s Up was nominated for an Oscar back in 2007. It was a unique little animated mockumentary about a Antarctic penguin who dreams of becoming a professional surfer. It’s not the greatest movie ever made but for what it is, it is an enjoyable watch. The writing is particularly good as it pokes fun at sports documentaries and movies.

Unfortunately all of the appeal of the original film is lost in this terrible sequel. The problems start with the premise. WWE stars play a group called The Hang 5 that Cody idolizes. This doesn’t jive with the original documentary because then his motivation was surfing not the Hang 5.

surfs-up2Even if I ignore that continuity problem, the premise is terrible. The Hang 5 are voiced by WWE wrestlers including John Cena, The Undertaker, Triple H and more. This stunt casting does nothing for the story except for to provide a couple of inside jokes that I did not understand.

Cody does hardly any surfing in the movie and it feels like it keeps reinventing itself every 10 minutes. One minute it is Indiana Jones, another it is Mission Impossible or Point Break. The list  could go on.  None of these characters have any charisma or personality

Jeremy Shada steps in for Shia LaBeoulf as Cody and you can tell. All of the voice acting feels bored but it is tough since the characters aren’t written in an interesting or satisfying way.

About 1/3rd of way through they are in the desert looking for some clue and I had no idea what they were doing with it but not in a good way. For most of it I was extremely bored and disengaged and I didn’t laugh at all

Normally I would be able to recommend something like this to kids but I really can’t here.  There is absoloutely nothing for a child’s intellect or creativity in all of this nonsense.

The animation isn’t even very good. It looks cheap because it was cheap.

I feel like I should have more to say on Surf’s Up 2 but I honestly don’t. It wasn’t funny, engaging, well executed or anything like the original film.

I just have to say to the WWE= get the heck out of my animated film!

Overall Grade- D-

Animated News 3/10/16

Hey guys!  I’m excited to share with you a new video series I am trying out. It’s a video where I cover all the news in both animated TV shows and movies.  I thought of this because I don’t really like reviewing trailers, so it seemed like a good way to cover the trailer but also other topics that I think are interesting.  I figured I could make my viewers aware of smaller projects or shows that might be off their radar.

There are obviously going to be room for improvement but I think it is a pretty good start.  Let me know if you have any suggestions.

Also, what do you think of this week’s news?  In the video I cover:

Box office for Zootopia and Boy and the Beast

Trailers for Kubo and the 2 Strings and Red Shoes and the 7 Dwarves

Movie announcements for animated Ghostbusters and Surfs Up 2: Wave Mania

Utah release of Boy and the World and Only Yesterday

Aaron Springer Billy Dilly Show

Ducktales reboot image review

Cancellation of Wander Over Yonder

Tangled Before Ever After series

Big Hero 6 series announcement

Does any of this news interest you?  Let’s discuss it in the comments section here or on the youtube video.  If you feel so inclined give it a thumbs up!  Thanks so much. 🙂

Did the Right Film Win? 2007 Animated Oscars

Hi guys!  Happy labor day weekend!  I’ve been having a lot of fun with my sister in town, but I was able to rewatch Persepolis and watch Surf’s Up for the first time.   I just posted my video on the 2007 Oscars and I think all 3 films are very creative.

Ratatouille and Persepolis both made my Top 50 Animated Films Countdown and my Most Artistic Animated Films, so clearly I like both of them a lot.  It’s tough to pick which one deserved to win because they are both so different and I appreciate them for different things.  I went with Ratatouille because I love the ending so much but I can totally see going with Persepolis as well.  It’s a fantastic film that helped introduce many to a whole new ‘adult’ side of animation.

As I said, I had never seen Surf’s Up and I really liked it!  It’s very creative with the way it applies a documentary approach to an animated film.  The humor works.  The ocean and surfing scenes look gorgeous and I liked the message about winning and competition.  It’s a very strong film.

So, all 3 are great but in the end I think the right film won.  What about you?  Which would you pick?