Review of Soul Surfer (2011) by James K — 25 Sep 2011

This is yet another one of those films where any credibility of the original story is drained out and replaced with the usual bland cheesiness. Indeed, having your arm munched off by a shark probably isn't a nice thing (it hasn't happened to me) and being able to get back to doing what you used to do (but minus an arm) is respectable. However, this film goes about it all the wrong way. If I were to sum it up using smiley faces, it would look like this:

:) :) :) :) :) XD :) :) :( :l :) :) XD :l :) :) :) :) :) :) :) XD.

Seriously, most of the time people are smiling bland, cheesy smiles and giving you bland, cheesy life lessons. They even seem to do that with the shark attack (although it looks more like a buoy that dissolves through arms and boards). Well, to be fair, I guess the shark bit is handled with enough respect. But, really, it felt like I was watching something like 'The Blind Side' all over again. Yes, another one of those shallow films. What really annoyed me about this film (other than the blandness) was that it seems like it is trying to be one of those teen romance sport (or dancing) films. Which I suppose it is. After all, it is about someone who wants to surf. But it just glosses over the main character dealing with losing an arm. Because, as you should all know, when someone loses an arm people smile about it. And to make things worse, they bring the 2004 Tsunami into this film. Briefly, and in the background. She eve visits a place where the Tsunami hit but it focuses on how she is an inspiration rather than the shock of the tsunami and what the people were going through (say what you want about 'Hereafter', at least the Tsunami bit was well done).

The final thing I would like to bring up is the surfing. Which is what a lot of the film is about. Well, it isn't 'Point Break'. The surfing bits reminded me more of the 1960s Batman TV series. The episode where Batman and the Joker make the final and show off their awesome moves. Well, this film had surf bits that reminded me of that, but the result in the Batman episode was less predictable. Seriously, this film goes through the usual cliches in presentation and result (for some reason, 'Dirty Dancing 2' came to mind). They were dull and awful.

I guess this is the fodder mainstream audiences want. It might satisfy some, by the amount of smiling will probably make you want to hit everyone. Okay, hitting them might be a bit excessive, but it does look like one of those annoying adverts for washing powder (where the families are always happy and smiling). But I guess it does cover enough of the right bases (just). And I've seen far worse. Still, it's bad.