I can’t believe that the whiny lead character from Swingers, ended up directing the biggest film of the summer. It’s amazing; and goes to show you never know what people’s hidden talents are. Jon Favreau, A guy who had limited range as an actor, is now one of the top directors in Hollywood, and after Iron Man, can have his pick of projects. But it’s well deserved, he showed great comedic timing with his Christmas film Elf, made a better version of Jamanji with Zathura, and shows he has an adept talent with action in Iron Man. I was really surprised by how well rounded the film is, and I think that’s why it connected with audiences so well. We’ve become so sick of the mindless action scenes and huge explosions, that when there’s a character to connect to behind it, it becomes much more enjoyable.

A lot of the success of Iron Man also goes to Robert Downey Jr.. Always a talented actor, but with his drug problem over the years, was never given a chance to really shine in a lead role in a huge film. With Tony Stark, the weapons designer billionaire, who becomes Iron Man, he gets a character with a bit of an arc, something sort of rare in the superhero realm. He starts off as the ultimate playboy, bedding any beautiful women he wants, driving his elite sports car, to his futuristic mansion in the hills of L.A., but when he’s caught as a prisoner of war, and gets to see what happens when his weapons are used for evil, his mission in life changes, and he becomes Iron Man.

It’s great to watch him actually pound out the metal, in the catacombs of a terrorist hive, and then his genius to build the ultimate weapon, which he uses to escape. Once back home, with the best technology in the world at his fingertips, he builds an even better version, one which can fly at supersonic speeds. They take enough time and caring in building up to the end version of Iron Man that you can believe in him flying around, taking on military jets, and possibly even surviving the brain crushing G-forces of some of his maneuvers. Once the real bad-guy reveals himself, and it’s about as surprising as Jeff Bridges' head is shiny, it’s great fun to watch Iron Man battle it out with an even bigger version of his weapon.

The film has some really great casting, Downey, especially; he’s charming, funny, handsome, but most of all he brings a humanity to this superhero. I think it’s the best casting ever for a superhero, and without him, Iron Man wouldn’t have been the same film. I also really dug Gwyneth Paltrow, as Pepper Potts, his long time assistant and forbidden love interest. They have great chemistry together, and Gwyneth gets to use some of that movie star shine, that she’s been hiding for the last few years. Terrance Howard is good as Col. Rhodes, the guy who always does everything by the book. And it was particularly fun to watch Bridges as the industrialist bad guy; you could tell he relished in playing something besides the sensitive man-child roles he's had since The Big Lebowski.

Ultimately Iron Man proves how great of a director Farveau is. He adeptly mixes, humor, romance, drama and huge action scenes together, actually making it feel like one organic film. So often these scenes clash together in these huge action films, either the humor or the drama doesn’t work, and we’re stuck watching carelessly as things blow-up around the heroes we don’t care about. Here we’re laughing at Tony Stark one minute, falling in love with Pepper Potts the next, then flying off to the middle east to blow away terrorists and actually caring about the people that Iron Man is saving. The film has a mixed message, condemning weapons, then wowing us with the huge battles, but that’s about the only true problem with the film. It’s not a perfect film, some of the scenes are unnecessary or drag on for too long, but for a huge summer blockbuster about a superhero, it’s a refreshing change of pace. The film is well thought out and superbly put together, with some actual care for the characters and the audience that is watching. – Grade: B+

In the first moments of my first viewing of the trailer for this film, my thought was, "exactly what the world doesn't need, another computer animated film about penguins." But the trailer began to grow on me, it seemed like something I might enjoy. Sometimes it's good to have a kid for exactly that reason. I probably would have felt a slight twinge of embarrassment buying tickets for this on my own, but with a three-year-old in tow, it was no problem; and in the end I think I enjoyed the film more than him. When we bought the DVD, I was happy for another chance to watch the film, and glad to have something well made for my son to watch a hundred times.

What I like most about Surf's Up is the documentary aspect. From a style perspective, Hollywood computer animated films are about as safe a genre as you can find. You don't often see someone trying to push the envelope; everything is pretty much straight forward, letting the ideas drive the film, instead of reaching for any kind of new artistry. As a fan of surfing documentaries; from Endless Summer to Riding Giants; I love that they pull those aesthetics into the crisp clean world of CGI. In telling the story of Cody Maverick, the film goes through scratchy Super-8 footage, old washed-out photos, TV coverage of surfing events, hand-held cameras, and they even have the filmmakers talking to the subjects from off-screen. Fairly gutsy stuff for a family film about talking penguins.

They did an impeccable job in casting as well; I love Shia LaBeouf as Cody, he gives the character a good mix of cockiness and self-doubt, plus he just sounds like a surfer. And you couldn't do any better than Jeff "The Dude" Bridges as the old surf guru Big Z. Zooey Deschanel has been a personal favorite of mine since Almost Famous, she's fine here as Cody's love interest, but she honestly isn't that memorable. Jon Heder is good, as he does his typical goofy thing as Chicken Joe, he gets in some good one liners. Diedrich Bader is a highlight as Tank Evans, Cody's nemesis, he's hilarious throughout the film. Even though the film is full of "names", the celebrity casting for this film isn't as obnoxious as something like the Shrek sequels; the filmmakers actually seem to be focusing on what's good for the character, instead of another name for the poster.

The story is fairly straight-forward. Cody Maverick grew up a bit different, he's the only surfer in his small "town" in Antarctica. His family doesn't understand him, and they try to squash his dream. When a surfing scout shows up, on the back of a whale, Cody forces his way on board, and takes a trip to Hawaii for the Big Z Open. Big Z is Cody's hero, who everyone believes died ten years before; Cody discovers him living in hiding, having given up surfing long ago. The two become friends, through each other they rediscover the joy of life and surfing, Tank gets his comeuppance and everything ends happily for everyone else. It's a kids movie.

Directed by Ash Brannon and Chris Buck, they have created a nice little gem. It has a very sweet spirit to it, a soul hidden beneath it's commercial facade. I enjoyed the documentary style, which they stick to fairly faithfully, except for one scene where they go riding through some lava tubes. I appreciated that the humor didn't rely on pokes at pop-culture, so the film will remain fairly timeless. If Brad Bird and the geniuses at Pixar hadn't created the wonderful Ratatouille, I would have considered Surf's Up the best animated film of 2007. It's far better than the other animated penguin movie Happy Feet; it has a nice message to it, but doesn't cram it down your throat like that film. I think that it would make a nice addition to any family's DVD collection; and that even childless film buffs can enjoy it from a filmmaking perspective. - Grade: B+