Fictional surfing films often struggle to appeal to surfers and wider audiences due to over-dramatization and blatant inaccuracies. These movies will try to compensate by including cameos of real pros, but that just isn't enough to make up for discrepancies. As a result, the best films about surfing are generally documentaries, such as Step Into Liquid and The Endless Summer. On the other hand, because Lords of Dogtown is written by real surfer and skater Stacy Peralta, the fictionalized film depicts surfing much more accurately, but it is ultimately a movie about the skateboarding world.

Surf's Up, an animated mockumentary-style movie about surfing penguins, is a game-changer for fictional films about surfing. Although the surfing itself isn't necessarily realistic, it isn't trying to be, nor does it need to be; the success of Surf's Up among regular audiences and professional surfers alike lies in the competitive spirit, camaraderie, surfing culture, and Chicken Joe.

Surf's Up, which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature, follows rockhopper penguin Cody Maverick (Shia LaBeouf), whose sole passion is surfing. He is desperately looking for a one-way ticket out of the isolated Antarctic wasteland he calls home; he believes that pro surfing is the best shot he has. Upon being discovered by a talent scout, Cody meets new friends, including his new best pal, Chicken Joe (Jon Heder). Together, they travel to Pen Gu Island for the Big Z Memorial Surf Contest — Cody's big shot. Obsessed with beating the lineup's biggest bully (Diedrich Bader), Cody loses sight of what truly matters. Unlike other surfing movies, Surf's Up highlights what surfing is really about: love and respect for nature, oneself, and others.

True to the Spirit of Surfing

Surfing did not begin as a competitive, monetized sport, contrary to what greedy contest host Reggie Belafonte (James Woods) believes. In the film, there is a scene that explains surfing's culturally significant past as a spiritual way of life. Island societies, namely the Pacific Islands, held surfing in a sacred regard, which does not align with today's mass Western commercialization of the hobby (represented by Reggie's obnoxious characterization).

When Cody first arrives at Pen Gu Island, he stands up to resident bully and trophy-hoarder Tank Evans in an argument they decide to settle in a surf-off. Cody is arrogant, but the onlookers on the beach commend his fierce spirit. Used to surfing the small waves of his hometown, Cody loses disastrously, which is depicted in a hilarious repetition of his wipe-out sequence. After discovering he's stepped on a poisonous urchin, lifeguard Lani and subsequent love-interest (Zooey Deschanel) brings him to "Zeke," a washed up old pro voiced by Jeff Bridges. Zeke, whom Cody soon realizes is his presumed-dead hero, Big Z, teaches Cody how to surf big waves properly by exercising patience and going with the flow. The surfing legend shows Cody that there is so much more to surfing than competition; it's a lifestyle, and it should be regarded as such.

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Meanwhile, the film hilariously documents Chicken Joe's dramatic search for his missing friend. Joe couldn't care less about the upcoming competition, which is clear when the filmmakers continue to remind him of it. Against the odds, Joe manages to befriend a tribe of hostile native "Pen-Guins," who help him eventually find his friend. Cody has also since forgotten about the contest in his rediscovery of surfing not as a sport, but as a spiritual way of life.

Professional surfers love the humor and spirit of this film. In a review of different fictional surfing movies, World Championship Tour surfer Kolohe Andino says, "This is the best one. I love this movie." In a similar review for Vanity Fair, World Championship Tour and Olympic silver medalist surfer Kanoa Igarashi states, "It's so well done... It's such a good movie. I think it's my favorite surf movie." When a fictional surfing movie (an animated one, no less) impresses even the pros, it is not to be overlooked. The storytelling, comedic elements, and homage to the world of surfing set it apart from the rest.

Self-Sacrifice and Friendship

The theme of friendship is perhaps the film's most prominent. Although unfriendly localism is certainly a factor in surfing, camaraderie is very important to the community. Surfers often take to the lineup in groups, or at least in pairs, where they cheer each other on and talk about life in between sets of waves. Surf's Up embodies this spirit very well, especially during Cody's later training sessions with Big Z.

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During the big contest, which is commentated by penguin versions of professional surfers Rob Machado and world championship record-holder Kelly Slater, Cody remembers what Big Z has taught him about prioritizing important matters over the trivial goal of winning. Knowing he no longer has a shot at the title because Tank Evans has edged him out, Cody gladly lets Chicken Joe take the win instead. To Cody, this is a greater win than the material gain of winning a trophy.

Inspired by Cody's sacrifice, Big Z finally reenters society to save him after he becomes stuck in the Boneyards (the deadly, rocky area outside the contest zone blamed for Big Z's "death") and instills the competitors with the spirit of surfing he has shared with Cody. After Cody's epic moment of humility and Joe's unexpected win, the surfers abandon a defeated Tank and Reggie Belafonte in order to take to Big Z's private cove for a classic, no-stakes expression session.

There is no pressure of competition or compliance with corporate greed and capitalism here— just a bunch of new friends sharing their love of surfing and cheering for one another when they get barreled. Surf's Up's spot-on depiction of surfers and the spirit of surfing, excellent humor, and creative story structure and style arguably make it the best fictional surfing film.