Blue Crush

Surf's up, fellow moviegoers, and it's about time! Labor Day may be right around the corner, but the ultimate summer movie is finally here. Slick, stylish and very exciting, Blue Crush is sure to do for surfing what last year's surprise hit The Fast and the Furious did for drag racing.

On the north shores of Hawaii, it's a genuine fact that the surfers rule. Anne Marie (Kate Bosworth) was one of those surfers, until a freak accident nearly wiped her out. Now she balances her time between training for the Pipe Masters surf competition, taking care of her little sister (Mika Boorem) and working as a hotel maid with her best friends, Eden (Michelle Rodriguez) and Leda (Sanoe Lake). Anne Marie struggles to overcome her fears in time to make the competition, but when her focus is sidetracked by a charming NFL quarterback (Matthew Davis), her dreams of hangin' ten once again may be grounded for good.

Blue Crush may be conveniently packaged, incredibly predictable and about 15 minutes longer than it needs to be, but so what? There's not much at stake here except having a good time, and besides, it's hard to criticize a film where the beach bunnies are barely dressed for 98 percent of the time. And of course, the surfing scenes are incredibly breathtaking and rival some of the more modern surf flicks like Point Break and In God's Hands.

The girls of Blue Crush could easily outsurf Gidget any day, and in an early scene that echoes the classic 60's surf movie Endless Summer, they stand poised with their backs to the camera while facing down the ominous waves of Mother Nature. It's a defining moment of female empowerment, and not even their hardbodied male counterparts can take that away from them.

The movie works best when it focuses on the surf and not the turf, but Kate Bosworth still shows a lot of promise as an immensely appealing lead. Michelle Rodriguez adds yet another tough role to her similar work in Girlfight and The Fast and the Furious, while Legally Blonde's Matthew Davis is likable enough as Bosworth's love interest.

Like I said, the summer may be almost over, but if Blue Crush doesn't keep you in the moment and make you want to sign up for surfing lessons right away, then nothing will.