In theaters

SURF’S UP, directed by Chris Buck and Ash Brannon, written by Buck, Brannon, Christopher Jenkins and Don Rhymer, 86 minutes, rated PG.

Apparently, everything is coming up threes at the box office this season. Before last week’s “Ocean’s Thirteen,” audiences saw a third “Spider-Man” hit theaters, a third “Pirates of the Caribbean,” a third “Shrek.” By summer’s end, a third “Rush Hour” will have opened, as will Matt Damon’s third film in the “Bourne” franchise, “The Bourne Ultimatum.”

Safety in numbers? You could say that, especially from a financial standpoint, but it’s too bad that so many of these movies have been as critically popular as a third nipple.

Now, the trend continues, albeit with a twist.

After the Academy Award-winning “March of the Penguins” and “Happy Feet,” Hollywood is serving up a third helping of penguins in Chris Buck and Ash Brannon’s computer-animated “Surf’s Up.”

This time out, the tuxedoed critters are featured in a movie in which the blistering cold of the Antarctic is replaced by the blistering heat of a tropical island. There, they ride towering waves – and run up against some towering egos – in heated competitions.

The movie is the slightest of the recent penguin lot. Unlike “Happy Feet,” for instance, which was designed to encourage its intended audience of tots to consider their place in the global community and how they might affect it, for better or worse, with their own actions toward their peers and the environment, “Surf’s Up” has nothing more pressing on its mind than to be entertaining. In this case, that’s enough.

The film follows the teenage penguin Cody Maverick (Shia LaBeouf) through a tumultuous time. In the wake of his father’s death – he was eaten by a shark, poor penguin – Cody is followed by a crew of bumbling documentarians as he fulfills his dream of becoming a champion surfer.

Helping him to that end are his friend, Chicken Joe (Jon Heder); Cody’s potential love interest, Lani (Zooey Deschanel); and especially Big Z (Jeff Bridges), a surfing legend who influenced Cody as a youth, and who now reluctantly agrees to help him train to win against the reigning surfing champ, Tank Evans (Diedrich Bader).

Beyond Bridges’ smooth, laid-back performance, which is a highlight, what makes the movie so appealing is the inspired decision to shoot it like a mock documentary – complete with unsteady camerawork and boom microphones that dip into the screen. It’s an approach that allows for spontaneity to flourish, such as when the characters suddenly bark out their feelings and frustrations at the cameras, or when three baby penguins neatly steal the show with their clever asides.

Also top-notch is the animation, which is fresh and innovative. From the beautiful rendering of water imagery to the lively expressions of the characters’ faces, “Surf’s Up” manages to skirt what could have sunk it – familiarity – by consistently finding new ways to work within a movie that easily could have felt fatigued.

Grade: B+

On DVD

GHOST RIDER, written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson, 110 minutes, rated PG-13.

The tagline for the new “Ghost Rider” movie promises that “Hell is about to be unleashed!” The tagline wasn’t joking.

In this case, the unleashing of hell really means the unveiling of a big-budget Nicolas Cage movie, which in the wake of the actor’s last two movies, “The Wicker Man” and “Next,” at least proves he’s on familiar ground.

Here, Cage takes the lead as Johnny Blaze, a lean, leather-clad motorcycle daredevil who, as a young man, signed his soul over to the devil (Peter Fonda) in an effort to save his father from terminal cancer. In spite of Johnny’s good intentions – you’ve got to admire the man’s moxie – doing so proves disastrous. Now, as an adult who at night turns into the fiery, motorcycle-riding skeleton Ghost Rider, Johnny is Mephistopheles’ go-to man when it comes to ridding the world of those demons trying to wrest power from the devil.

The chief demon leading this cause is Mephistopheles’ ungrateful son Blackheart (Wes Bentley), who has enlisted several other demons in a quest to bring his old man down. What Blackheart wants is a contract his father signed with the previous ghost rider, which presumably will allow him to consume enough lost souls to make him the most powerful demon on Earth. Key to this happening is Johnny’s relationship with Caretaker (Sam Elliott), a grave digger whose secret past will surprise no one when it’s revealed.

Working hard in a romantic subplot are Eva Mendez’s breasts-there isn’t a shot in the movie in which they don’t dominate the screen or detract from her character, a television reporter once in love with Johnny. Mendez is a washout here – one of Hefner’s Bunnies could have played the role to similar effect – but at least she doesn’t have to drink jelly beans out of martini glasses while listening to music by the Carpenters and watching monkey karate films, as Cage does.

The good news about “Ghost Rider” is that sometimes it’s just bad enough to offer dark moments of camp. The dialogue is atrocious, though the special effects counter in that they are well-done. So, the result is a mix. This isn’t a movie you go to hoping for the success of the first and second “Spider-Man,” but a movie you go to if you agree there’s fun to be had in the occasional cinematic collapse.

Grade: C-

Visit www.weekinrewind.com, the archive of Bangor Daily News film critic Christopher Smith’s reviews, which appear Mondays and Fridays in Lifestyle, weekends in Television as well as on bangordailynews.com. He may be reached at Christopher@weekinrewind.com.

The Video-DVD Corner

Renting a video or a DVD? BDN film critic Christopher Smith can help. Below are his grades of recent releases in video stores. Those in bold print are new to video stores this week.

Akeelah and the Bee – B+

The Ant Bully – B+

Apocalypto – C

Arthur and the Invisibles – C

Babel – A-

Because I Said So – C

The Black Dahlia – C-

Blood Diamond – C+

Bobby – C-

Borat – B+

Breach – B+

Breaking and Entering – C-

Cars – C

Casino Royale – A

Catch and Release – C

Charlotte’s Web – B+

Children of Men – A

Cruel Intentions Blu-ray – B

The Dead Girl – A-

Deja Vu – C+

The Departed – A

The Devil Wears Prada – B+

Dreamgirls – B

Employee of the Month – C

Eragon – C

Everyone’s Hero – C+

The Fall Guy: Season One – C+

Fast Food Nation – B-

Feast – C+

Flags of Our Fathers – B+

Flushed Away – B+

Flyboys – C-

The Fountain – D

Friends with Money – B

The Good German – C

The Good Shepherd – B-

Half Nelson – A-

Happy Feet – A-

Hex: Complete First Season – B

The History Boys – B+

A History of Violence – A

The Holiday – C+

Hollywoodland – C

The Illusionist – B+

Infamous – B+

Invincible – B

Katharine Hepburn Collection – B

Last Holiday – B

The Last King of Scotland – B+

Letters from Iwo Jima – B+

Little Children – A-

Little Miss Sunshine – B+

The Marine – C+

Miami Vice – C

Monster House – B+

Music and Lyrics – B

My Super Ex-Girlfriend – A-

Night at the Museum – C+

Notes on a Scandal – B+

The Painted Veil – B+

Pan’s Labyrinth – A

The Prestige – B+

The Pursuit of Happyness – B-

The Queen – A-

Rocky Balboa – B+

A Scanner Darkly – B+

Sherrybaby – B+

Shut Up & Sing – A-

Smokin’ Aces – C-

Snakes on a Plane A-

This Film is Not Yet Rated – B-

United 93 – A

Venus – B+

Volver – A

Waiting for God: Season 2 – A-

The Wicker Man – BOMB

World Trade Center – A

WWE: Wrestlemania 23 – C