“The footage itself, particularly of the surf, is spectacular… They are angry waves, monsters — with lots of attitude and undertow.”

“The eye-popping water footage looks digitally undoctored, and entirely persuasive, generally maintaining a certain long-shot distance that allows audiences to see the surfers’ bodies in motion, thrillingly dwarfed by 40- and 50-foot waves.”

“…its buoyancy can be infectious and persuasive, particularly in the surfing scenes and in the mesmerizing shots of the heaving, churning ocean and waves. The movie captures the hypnotic quality of this watery landscape, with its steel blue undulations and the Freudian oceanic feeling it summons.”

“…the most realistic (and terrifying) surf scenes that Hollywood has been able to conjure.”

“With the massive power and mesmerizing curl of the giant waves, Chasing Mavericks is at its best offshore.”

“The surfing sequences are some of the best I’ve ever seen in a film, and the re-creation of Jay’s climactic battle to ride El Nino-driven waves is real white-knuckle stuff.”

“The cinematography of the big Mavericks scene is so frightening that you sort of understand why Frosty stays on the shore…”

“The true stars of the film are the waves themselves, awesome liquid mountains that rear up magnificently and resoundingly crash, thrillingly recorded by the sensational cinematography…”

“The waves tower and crash impressively. Our proximity to them is breathtaking…”