Soul Surfer tells the story of teenage surfer Bethany Hamilton. She survived a shark attack that took her arm and she returned to competitive surfing. I hadn't realized a movie was being made about what happened before seeing the trailers. I do remember hearing the news reports about it when it happened.
The movie starts off introducing Bethany, her family, and best friend. It is clear how much surfing is a part of her life and a competition is shown. The shark attack is shown, though not in a lot of detail. I think the way it was shown worked well. It is clear that she has been attacked and seriously injured without being gory. The fact that she survived is amazing. She has an incredibly good attitude about what has happened to her overall, though she does have moments when she struggles with it. She is still in the hospital when she talks about wanting to go surfing again. I can't imagine setting one toe in the ocean again after seeing a shark, let alone after being attacked. I should probably mention that I have...issues about sharks. I do have a fear of sharks even though I don't live near the ocean - I saw one of the Jaws movies too many times when I was younger. In some ways, the shark attack in this movie freaks me out more than the more graphic shark attacks in other movies I've seen. Bethany and the people she were with weren't doing anything. There was no sign of the shark. It just lunged up out of the water and attacked her with no warning. That is scary. I read some stuff about the movie and evidently some scenes were filmed in the same spot where the attack happened.
The movie does deal with things tied to Bethany's recovery and how she and her family dealt with some things. It took time for Bethany to be able to surf again. The movie is very entertaining and interesting, though there is some bad dialogue every so often. The cast does well with their parts, especially AnnaSophia Robb as Bethany, though she is several years older than Bethany was when she was attacked. Bethany was only 13 when that happened. She is professional surfer now.
The movie has a beautiful look in many scenes. Bethany lives in Hawaii and that is where the movie was filmed. The beaches look gorgeous. The scenes showing the surfing are well done. There are some amazing shots that I don't have a clue how they were filmed.
The movie has a few issues, but overall it is really good and definitely worth seeing. Bethany's survival and recovery is amazing. When the movie is over, there is footage of the real Bethany surfing, before and after the accident. One of her brothers filmed a lot of home movies, and that is where a lot of the footage came from. The movie is definitely worth watching.
I did get a review posted after seeing the movie.
Soul Surfer
