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Finding
Nemo
Starring (voices of) Albert
Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres
Directed
by
Andrew Stanton
Rated G
out of
Stars, Movie Grade: B+
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Theatrical
Release: May 30, 2003
Running time: 101 minutes
by Kevin Lang
Although not as enjoyable
as last year's Pixar treat "Monster's Inc.", "Finding Nemo"
was still a delightful film filled with intelligent touches of humor that
kept me laughing to myself throughout. Like the previous Pixar films,
"Finding Nemo" again carried a positive message that the filmmakers
emphasized effectively through the use of creative storytelling and characters.
The story highlighted the importance of facing your deepest fears to travel
(in this case swim) beyond the boundaries that restrict you.
Young Nemo's father,
Marlin (Albert Brooks), ventured out in search of his son, who had been
caught by a scuba diver and put into the scuba diver's office fish tank.
Marlin had feared the ocean ever since Nemo's mother, brothers, and sisters
had been killed in a shark attack. Some of the film's shark scenes were
rather frightening, and I would perhaps caution against bringing very
young children to the film. Even the kind sharks had terrifying razor
sharp teeth.
Marlin met another
fish, Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), while he searched for Nemo. Dory suffered
from short-term memory loss, which provided for some of the funnier moments
of the film. At first, Dory seemed to be a drag for Marlin, but gradually
Marlin realized Dory's uniqueness. This was a theme that spanned almost
all of the characters in the film, including Nemo, who was born with an
underdeveloped fin, but had a great amount of courage.
"Finding Nemo"
was definitely an imaginative film. However, it didn't quite leave me
with the overwhelming satisfaction of other computer-animated films like
"Toy Story" or Dreamwork's "Shrek." Although the humor
was there, children may find the fish characters less appealing than toys
that come to life or monster's that come out of their closets. Still,
it was hard not to be impressed by the animation as well as the sound.
As the technology
advances, Pixar seems to outdo itself with each subsequent filmmaking
effort. Every wave, splash, bubble, and movement was highlighted with
such accurate sound effects that at times it was hard to believe that
what I was watching wasn't real. Then again, reality is rarely as colorful
as the animated textures of the ocean environments of "Finding Nemo."
The film is evidence that Pixar is continuing to master the domain of
computer-animated films that they started with 1995's "Toy Story."
With "Finding
Nemo's" menacing sharks, beach bum turtles, hungry whales, and perching
pelicans, there was enough goofy humor to sustain oneself for the film's
entire 101 minutes. However, the film's attempt to be heartfelt felt more
forced here and lacked the conviction of "Monster's Inc." Even
so, kids will nonetheless leave the theater as if they had traded brains
with a wave-riding turtle. I can already hear them now...
"Hang shell dude!" Totally.
"Finding
Nemo"
Review written May 29, 2003, CTF.
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