Soul Surfer

I saw a DVD of Soul Surfer being placed on a drawer at my house. I suppose my sister bought it and put it there. Having seen Blue Crush before, a breathtaking movie about surfing, I became curious on this one and decided to watch it a few days later.

In the beginning, I had no expectation on this movie at all. Having seen Blue Crush years ago, I simply think it'd be difficult for other surfing movies to compete. When I saw Blue Crush, I was really stunned by the photography, surfing scenes were beautifully captured that I still wonder how the cameramen could do that.

Blue Crush poster

Back to Soul Surfer, what made this movie good is very different from Blue Crush, it's not the photography scenes, but the story. When the movie begins, there seems no clue where the movie is heading. It only tells viewers a family that enjoy surfing, a family with strong bound and care for each other. It takes about 20 minutes to take us to a point when we suddenly realize what this movie will be about.

What makes this movie good is the characters. While I thought this movie to be full of boys and girls showing off their surfing skill, muscular shaped figures, and slow motion beach running scenes like Baywatch series, it turns out really far from that. All characters seem to be naturally human, caring for each other as a family and friend. I'm glad that Kevin Sorbo (the guy who played Hercules in the series) is in the movie. I've only seen him kicking people and fighting gods, but he's so much more milder in this role.

The movie focuses on overcoming difficulties together, not about showing off their strength and power. There are some encouraging words delivered by the characters, they could sound a bit cliche at times, but I can still take them, and actually, some words are in fact quite inspiring.

All in all, it's a good family film, don't expect too much, just let the movie flows. It's not a world class surfing movie, but a decent and entertaining one.