All Critics (63)
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Top Critics (23)
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Fresh (21)
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Rotten (42)
Floating atop the explosive breakers, like an overabundance of phytoplankton, is a roiling colony of clichés that stops at nothing to dominate the screenplay.
It's a perfect fortune cookie of a movie, full of bland life lessons for everybody; would that there were some drama or style in it somewhere along the way.
For Hanson and Apted, this is a rather inconsequential effort.
The heart-pounding surfing scenes are epic but the script can barely keep its head above the waves in the dramatized biopic Chasing Mavericks.
When every frayed plot device you've predicted makes its inevitable appearance, at least you'll have the majestic waves off the California coastline to comfort you.
Never really [delivers] the sun-in-your-face, salt-in-your-hair, sandy-cocky thrill of surfing or surf culture.
It's always odd walking away from an average film, realizing there are plenty of flaws, and still kind of liking it. That's the case with 'Chasing Mavericks.'
Almost redeemed by a thrilling final 15 minutes; at its best during watery action scenes while avoiding the trappings of a shallow, clichéd script.
Visually it captures the combination of grace and excitement in the water, but the film drowns amid a sea of coming-of-age cliches.
Ultra-poetic, mucho exciting, crazy-realistic surf legend.
For the real Mavericks, stick with Stacy Peralta's documentary Riding Giants.
Chasing Mavericks has an engaging story that is capably acted on land, and only gets more thrilling once it decides to get wet chasing mavericks.
Could be called the son of "Soul Surfer" as both movies appeal to the same audience.
An unhappy reminder of the creative wipeout Curtis Hanson's career has unexpectedly become.
Chasing Mavericks offers some spectacular cinematic imitation of the surfing experience, but fills that mold with paint-by-numbers plot beats and characters.
Bland and uninspiring, it narrowly avoids a wipeout.
...an almost epically unwatchable drama that stands as an obvious low point in the careers of both Apted and Hanson.
Inspiring story about teen surfer has some sad moments.
Like most amateur surfers, Hanson and Apted get off to a shaky start in Chasing Mavericks; but once they find their balance, they ride the incredible wave of Moriarity's uplifting tale with the sure footing of the seasoned pros they truly are.
A pretty good sports tale yet the human element is just barely there.
The inspirational part becomes a letdown in the finale (when the movie tells us, as gently as possible, about Moriarity's life after Mavericks), but Moriarity's good-natured determination shines through.
It might not be a complete wipeout, but it's far away from hanging ten in any sort of awesome way. (Full Content Review for Parents also available)
Chasing Mavericks is one of those easily digestible, quickly forgettable movies that neither offends nor inspires.
A coming-of-age story which should end with the young boy becoming a young man. Unfortunately, fate had other ideas. As the old saying goes, God writes lousy theater.
50%
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Top Critic
Chasing Mavericks is the kind of film that clearly has its heart in the right place. I would not say that the story crashes like a wave onto the beach, because of its devotion to making its lead character a saint that can do no wrong, but it does suffer because it is so willing to not so much have real characters as it has easily defined types and several, by-the-numbers, dramatic subplots. On the plus side, Chasing Mavericks does make the case for their needing to be a true IMAX documentary about surfing, because this film does feature some pretty wonderful cinematography, when dealing with the mythical waves that our hero hopes to surf one day. It is a familiar sort of film, but being too familiar does not ruin it completely.
read the whole review at thecodeiszeek.com