A lot of hype has gone the way of Julian Wilson’s long-awaited profile flick, Scratching The Surface, and it gets you to wondering how much is too much. Let us make it absolutely clear from the start that the surfing in this movie is superb, but given the build-up the fi lm has received, it would want to be. STS was 18 months in the making and J-Dub turned down competition and involvement with Modern Collective to make it happen, and the results are pretty tasty.

Starting with an awesome montage of a young Joycey rolling around on his skatey at two foot tall, and making his first tentative forays into the water, we hear from Julian’s family and his best mate – an awesome inclusion, by the way – but little from the kid himself, possibly keener to let his surfing do the talking.

Suddenly the chatting stops and Julian is a pro-surfer doing what pro-surfers do best, travelling the globe and surfing crazy waves. He surrounds himself with the elite of the sport, often a perilous move in the interests of being Best In Show, but Julian sits comfortably among Mick Fanning, Dane Reynolds, Taj Burrow and co. If anyone does threaten Julian it is Dusty Payne, who puts in a fine display.

There were clearly thousands of QuikBull dollars spent on this movie, and the big-name soundtrack, helicopters and tricked-out graphics are the result. At the end of the day though, these are mere sideshows to the surfi ng of one of Australia’s few potential future superstars.

ASL RATING: 4/5
BEST FOR: Verifying the hype
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