Featuring: Kelly Slater

Parental guide: none

Running time: 42 minutes

Rating: Three and a half stars out of five

Open now at Science World Omnimax Vancouver

VANCOUVER — Kelly Slater is the best surfer in the world. That’s all there is to it. He’s a nine-time world champion who has the unique distinction of being the youngest person to win a title at age 20, as well as the oldest: Slater picked up his last title two years ago at age 36.

The Cocoa Beach native was clearly born to ride the waves, and in Stephen Low’s new IMAX documentary, Slater does what he does better than anyone else in the world: ride heaving blue waves of surging water with effortless grace.

As one of the more cinegenic metaphors for the human experience, surfing ranks right alongside river rafting and helicopter shots for large-format film porn. All you really have to do is stick a bunch of people in the water holding good cameras, and let Slater do his stuff.

At least, that’s what this Low documentary looks like, as we watch Slater explore the reefs off Tahiti in search of the ultimate breaker. Joining him on the quest are local wave-riding legends, whose unique style isn’t confined to surf boards, but outriggers and paddle boards, as well.

Because Tahiti is easily one of the most scenic places on the planet (just ask painter Paul Gauguin and his hundred bare-breasted lovers), Ultimate Wave Tahiti is easy on the eyes and a no-brainer piece of escapism that will give winter-weary Canadians a good reason to get off their hibernation-enhanced fannies.

What makes this better than your average large-format surf movie is the science and folklore behind it.

Low goes through a thorough examination of fluid dynamics and how big waves are formed, and why the breakers off Tahiti’s Teahupo’o are considered nature’s own water park.

The language is easy to understand, and the graphic elements make it easy for those without any physics background to digest.

The visual aids also animate the stories of Tahitian gods, and how there are good spirits in the ocean, as well as evil ones. It’s a cursory overview, but you need a nod to spirituality in any surf movie, because the sport puts mankind amid the chaos of the elements, where he either excels and achieves tubular perfection or panics and gets crushed against the shallow reef like so much flotsam.

Slater is the very best, so the viewer is treated to some truly sweet rides before the final credits, but even those who aren’t so fond of wet adrenalin sports will find something to embrace in this surprisingly humble piece of sport cinema.

There’s so much underwater camera work and audio, you can almost feel the salt water against your skin and hear the sound of sand being swept by tidal currents.

It’s a beautiful world, and even though this is about Slater and surfing, Ultimate Wave Tahiti does acknowledge the degradation of coral reefs around the world due to climate change and industrial development.

You can hear the edge of sadness in Slater’s voice as he describes the downward spiral he’s witnessed in his own lifetime, but it never gets maudlin — just matter-of-fact — ensuring this large-format film rides a good wave without bailing when the ride gets rough.

The Vancouver Sun

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