Surf's Up!

Clarissa (almost 4 yrs) was very excited when I told her we were going for a movie about Penguins called Surf's Up. She quickly finished her milk, changed into clean clothes and put on her Barbie shoes. When we reached Cathay Cineleisure, she couldn't wait for me to purchase the tickets. Since we still had time, we decided to 'grab' something to eat. She protested that she didn't want to eat but soon we saw the model of the evil Darth Maul in the shop, she decided to be quiet (in case her yelling woke up the Jedi). Christa (almost 2 yrs)just kept herself busy talking to Mommy in her 'modified English'.

The movie was made as a running commentary on Cody's (Cody is the main cartoon character)life starting from scratch to glory. He was inspired by Big Z (the greatest penguin surfer of all times) who visited his island when he was little. By some chance, Big Z gave him a shell pendant with Big Z's initials when he pushed himself in front of the welcome crowd. Since then Cody's dream was to be like his icon, Big Z. Big Z was believed to have been killed during a fierce competition against Tank (the big bully who was in love with his surfing trophies).

Clarissa and Christa's attention span got till that point and they started munching on the Sausage cuts. Mommy and I thought they were great seated at both ends of our 4 seats and would not quarrel. Soon, we found out that Christa was only interested in the sausages, but Clarissa wanted to watch the movie. We kept the sausages with Clarissa as we knew that she would be a good steward of it.





......... Several seasons passed and Cody was 17 yrs old when a Talent scout, Mikey (a confused bird who wandered off from another place) was searching for new skilled surfers across the Antartica on a whale! Despite not getting his attention initially, Cody managed to out-manouvre the whale and surfed his way to catch Mikey's attention.

Thrilled with the prospects of being a competitor in the Big Z Memorial Surf Off, Cody shuffled across the beach meeting new friends. He met Chicken Joe (the one and only Chicken who surfs!) and Lani (the lifeguard lady Penguin). He comes to the rescue ot Chicken Joe and ends up challenging Tank for a surf.

Christa was restless and wanted Clarissa to give her more sausages. Clarissa relented and I was given the responsibility to pass the sausage on to Christa.

As they paddled away from the beach a gigantic wave developed, Tank kept his balance and swerved into the 'tunnel' but Cody fell rapidly to the bottom of the sea. Despite several attempts to resurface, he just could not fight the current. He was knocked-out cold when repeated waves plunged him into the corals. Lani came to the rescue and revived him but he went into unconsciousness again.

Mommy prepared Christa her milk and then took Clarissa out for a toilet-break. Christa was horrified as she thought that Mommy was abandoning her in the theatre. Despite my attempts to pacify her, everything failed. Conscious of the protests from other viewers, I quickly took Christa out of the hall and waited for Mommy and Clarissa to return. We returned to the cinema hall but Mommy decided to bring both the children to the lobby as they were very restless. I stayed on and watched (guilty leaving Mommy to take care of the girls) the movie.

Lani was really thoughtful as she dragged Cody into the jungle to get some treatment from her uncle (a plump, unshaven, untidy huge Penguin). As it turned out, this uncle was knowledgeable in treating penguin ailments. He pulled out a long spike (from a sea urchin) from the foot Cody and he was much better. After several days, Cody fully recovered. He somehow figured out that Lani's uncle was Big Z. He had a misunderstanding with Big Z over the making of his surfboard and leaves.

Lani met Cody and managed to convince him to return to Big Z after showing him the lava tunnels and a waterfall. He then carried a wooden log and worked on another surfboard. This time he put his heart and soul to his work. Upon completing the surfboard, Big Z jumped on the surfboard to test it. The bewildered Cody then started training on land and water to surf like a champ with his mentor, Big Z.

Cody joins the Big Z Memorial Surf Off and finally make it to the top 3 finalist i.e. Cody, Chicken Joe and the arrogant Tank. During the final surf, Tank goes after Chicken Joe and ..... . Guys! Don't want to spoil it for you. Go and watch it yourself!

I came out after watching the movie and brought everyone home after buying supper. Thought I would never be caught watching an animated movie alone with the children and wife sitting in the lobby. It was an entertaining movie with great graphics but I wished the storyline was more interesting and the characters appealed more to my two girls.