Surf's Up
With a documentary crew in tow, Cody Maverick—a young surfer from Antarctica—travels to the pacific for his first professional competition. Determined to earn respect and live up to his idol, Big Z, Cody pushes himself to the limit. But all that changes when an encounter with a laid-back local forces him to rethink his values.
Critics Sentiment
Cody discovers that Geek is actually Big Z himself
Cody nearly drowns and gets stung by Ivan the sea urchin
The biggest jump occurs when Cody discovers Geek is actually Big Z, elevating the story from a low point to its emotional peak.
Surf's Up starts moderately with effective character setup and mockumentary style that reviewers appreciated. The film peaks during the Big Z revelation and training sequences, which critics consistently praised for their heart and Jeff Bridges' performance. While following predictable sports movie conventions, the film maintains solid viewer sentiment through strong animation, voice acting, and its core message about fun over winning.
Full cast
Showing 20 of 38
Shia LaBeouf
Cody Maverick (voice)
Jeff Bridges
Big Z / Geek (voice)
Zooey Deschanel
Lani Aliikai (voice)
Jon Heder
Chicken Joe (voice)
James Woods
Reggie Belafonte (voice)
Diedrich Bader
Tank Evans (voice)
Mario Cantone
Mikey Abromowitz (voice)
Kelly Slater
Kelly (voice)
Rob Machado
Rob (voice)
Selema Masekela
SPEN Announcer (voice)
Ash Brannon
Filmmaker (voice)
Chris Buck
Filmmaker (voice)
Brian Posehn
Glen Maverick (voice)
Dana Belben
Edna Maverick (voice)
Reed Buck
Arnold (voice)
Reese Elowe
Kate (voice)
Jack P. Ranjo
Smudge (voice)
Maddie Taylor
Ivan / Glen's Buddy, and others (voice)
Bob Bergen
Additional Voices (voice)
Jillian Bowen
Additional Voices (voice)
Crew
Write a Review
Rate each story beat:
