Skip to main content
Background
Welcome to GamesRADAR+ Community !
Hi ,

Your membership journey starts here.

Keep exploring and earning more as a member.

MY ACCOUNT

Badge picture
Earn your first badge
Read 1 article to unlock your first badge.
Keep earning badges
Explore ways to get more involved as a member.
Latest Games News

Latest Games News

Breaking gaming news and updates

Read Now
Latest Games Reviews

Latest Games Reviews

Expert verdicts on the newest releases

Read Now

See what you’ve unlocked.

Explore your membership benefits.

Explore
Member Exclusives

Stay Ahead with GamesRadar+

Get the biggest gaming news, reviews, and releases straight to your inbox.

Explore

Sign Out
  • TotalFilm
  • Edge
  • Newsarama
  • Retrogamer
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+
US EditionUS CA EditionCanada UK EditionUK AU EditionAustralia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • More
    • PS5
    • Xbox Series X
    • Nintendo Switch
    • Nintendo Switch 2
    • PC
    • Platforms
    • Tabletop Gaming
    • Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsletters
    • About us
    • Features
Trending
  • Best Netflix Movies
  • Movie Release Dates
  • Best movies on Disney Plus
  • Best Netflix Shows
Don't miss these
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Simon Williams in Wonder Man.
Superhero Shows Wonder Man review: "A low-key gem that's up there with the MCU's best"
Camila Morrone as Rachel in Something Very Bad is Going to Happen
Horror Shows Duffer Brothers' new Netflix horror show called "captivating" and "a dread-filled nightmare" in first reviews
Cillian Murphy as Tommy in Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man.
Movies The 25 best movies on Netflix to watch right now
Ryan Gosling as Ryland Grace in Project Hail Mary
Sci-Fi Movies Project Hail Mary review: "Large scale sci-fi with tons of heart"
Uma Thurman's Devora Kasimer sitting at a make up table looking at a group of bloody ballerinas in her mirror
Streaming Services 3 new to Prime Video movies you need to watch this weekend (March 27–March 29)
Iñaki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy Emily Rudd as Nami and Jacob Romero as Usopp standing on the deck of the Merry in One Piece season 2
Netflix One Piece season 2 review: "It's hard to imagine a better version of One Piece in live action"
Maui (Dwayne Johnson) in Moana (2026)
Live Action Movies Moana director Thomas Kail on bringing Dwayne Johnson's demigod to life for the live-action remake's new trailer
Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone in The Godfather.
Streaming Services The 20 best movies on Paramount Plus to watch right now
Ghostface in Scream 7
Horror Movies Scream 7 review: "Never as sharp as the series' best, but still has a few neat tricks up its billowing sleeve"
Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles in Sonic 3
Amazon Prime Video The 25 best movies on Prime Video to watch right now
The Serpent's Skin
Horror Movies The Serpent's Skin is the neon-soaked, blood-splattered queer love story I've been waiting for
Return to Silent Hill protagonist James Sunderland
Horror Movies Return to Silent Hill review: "Neither an impressive adaptation nor coherent enough to act as a standalone film"
Jacob Elordi as the Creature in Frankenstein
Horror Movies The 25 best Netflix horror movies to watch right now
Keanu Reeves as FBI Agent Johnny Utah and Patrick Swayze as Bodhi "Bodhisattva" in the movie Point Break.
Hulu The best movies on Hulu to watch right now
Superman kisses Lois Lane in James Gunn's Superman
Movies The 20 best movies on HBO Max to watch right now
  1. Entertainment
  2. Movies
  3. Horror Movies

Soul Surfer review

A real-life shark tale…

Reviews
By James Mottram published 19 September 2011

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Why you can trust GamesRadar+ Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.

Her arm bitten off by a shark, Hawaiian surfer chick Bethany Hamilton learns to ride those waves again…

An amazing true story for sure, but this earnest dramatisation is so wholesome, it feels like being stuck in a never-ending Activia advert.

Everyone is blonde, beautiful and buff – even the church-group leader that escorts Bethany (Bridge To Terabithia’s AnnaSophia Robb) to Thailand to help the post-tsunami locals learn to surf.

While Dennis Quaid and Helen Hunt don’t add much as her parents, at least director Sean McNamara gets some stunning surf footage – and the scene with the shark is chillingly economic.

But ultimately? More Blue Crush than Big Wednesday.

Sign up for the Total Film Newsletter

Bringing all the latest movie news, features, and reviews to your inbox

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
CATEGORIES
Netflix Streaming Services
James Mottram
James Mottram
Social Links Navigation
Freelance writer

James Mottram is a freelance film journalist, author of books that dive deep into films like Die Hard and Tenet, and a regular guest on the Total Film podcast. You'll find his writings on GamesRadar+ and Total Film, and in newspapers and magazines from across the world like The Times, The Independent, The i, Metro, The National, Marie Claire, and MindFood.

Read more
Phoebe Dynevor in Thrash
Horror Movies Stay clear of the water this summer as yet another shark horror movie is on the way, and its first trailer is terrifying
 
 
Kelly Gale in the first Deep Water teaser
Horror Movies Shark horror is so back as Deep Blue Sea director returns to the genre with action-packed first trailer for Deep Water
 
 
Karl Urban as Captain Connor in The Bluff
Action Movies The Boys star's new swashbuckling actioner compared to Pirates of the Caribbean in mixed-positive first reviews
 
 
The Serpent's Skin
Horror Movies The Serpent's Skin is the neon-soaked, blood-splattered queer love story I've been waiting for
 
 
Joe Kerry as Travis 'Teacake' Meachum and Georgina Campbell as Naomi Williams in Cold Storage
Horror Movies Stranger Things star's new zombie horror Cold Storage is a love letter to gooey, goofy sci-fi from the early 2000s
 
 
Under Paris
Horror Movies Sequel to Netflix's divisive shark horror hit Under Paris finds director in The Hills Have Eyes and Crawl helmer
 
 
Latest in Horror Movies
The Serpent's Skin
Horror Movies The Serpent's Skin is the neon-soaked, blood-splattered queer love story I've been waiting for
 
 
A young girl swaddled in rags awakening from death
Horror Movies If Evil Dead Rise was a "rocket ship fuelled by blood" then Lee Cronin's new Mummy movie is "more of a maze"
 
 
The Boys
Horror Movies Homelander actor Antony starr shuts down Albert Wesker fan-casting in Resident Evil: "I'm 50"
 
 
Megan Fox as Jennifer Check in Jennifer's Body
Horror Movies Diablo Cody says Jennifer's Body 2 is bolder than the original and "a response" to it becoming a cult classic
 
 
Billie Roy in Lee Cronin's The Mummy
Horror Movies Evil Dead Rise director says he turned down a sequel in order to take a "risk" on new installment in the Mummy franchise
 
 
Pennywise in It Chapter Two
Horror Movies Andy Muschietti confirms an It supercut is going to happen, but we won't see it until after Welcome to Derry season 2
 
 
Latest in Reviews
Key art for Life is Strange: Reunion showing Max and Chloe standing together looking serious as Max reaches out her hand to use her time powers - the background is Caledon University in fall, overlaid with a polaroid photograph of it in flames
Adventure Games Life is Strange: Reunion review-in-progress: "Bogged down in past drama, the joy of Chloe and rewind's return flounders"
 
 
Fox in the Forest box on a wooden table
Tabletop Gaming Fox in the Forest review
 
 
Charlie Cox as Daredevil in Daredevil: Born Again season 2
Marvel TV Shows Daredevil: Born Again S2 review: "Still struggling to bloom in the shadow of the Netflix show"
 
 
Photo of the EasySMX S10 Lite sitting infront of a Nintendo Switch 2.
Gaming Controllers The EasySMX S10 Lite controller has the most satisfying buttons I've ever pressed on a Switch 2 pad
 
 
The design of the YoloLiv YoloCam S3
Peripherals This webcam promises DSLR image quality, and it isn't too far off
 
 
Crimson Desert
RPGs Crimson Desert review: "A game that's far better as a sandbox than as a story"
 
 
LATEST ARTICLES
  1. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 lead Gustave faces a gommage
    1
    "You can't build clever little games anymore" unless you're Expedition 33, RPG legend says
  2. 2
    Arc Raiders lead was surprised The Last of Us players liked the game, just not "PvP all the time"
  3. 3
    Saros aims for bite-sized 30-minute runs, and the cool-off makes you "ready for another", its game designer tells me
  4. 4
    7 reasons why Saros has me hooked on its eclipse-powered roguelike runs
  5. 5
    Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 devs knew the sequel "had to stand taller" after "experimenting" on the first game

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google
  • Terms and conditions
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Accessibility statement
  • Careers
  • About us
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...