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Finding Nemo
Movie Stats & Links |
| Starring: |
Voices of Erica Beck, Albert
Brooks, Willem Dafoe, Ellen DeGeneres, Brad Garrett |
| MPAA Rated: |
G |
| Released By: |
Disney &
Pixar |
| Kiddie Movie: |
You betcha! |
| Date Movie: |
You betcha! |
| Gratuitous Sex: |
Nope. |
| Gratuitous
Violence: |
Some fish get
eaten, but you don't directly see it. |
| Action: |
Some fish chase
other fish. |
| Laughs: |
Lots. |
| Memorable
Scene: |
The sharks in
rehab. |
| Memorable
Quote: |
Not really a
quote, but a fish tank decoration: Mount Wannahockaloogey |
| Directed By: |
Andrew Stanton |
| Produced By: |
Graham Walters |
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Finding Nemo
A Movie Review |
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As a S.I.N.K. (Single Income No Kids) I must admit
that I really don’t know what is acceptable for little kids, whether
in the age groups of under 5, 5 to 10, 10 to 13, or god forbid,
teenagers, but I did discover something as I sat in a theater of
mostly under 5’s and their moms – the under 5’s really aren’t phased
by cartoon violence nor sadness as long as something fun comes along
quickly. My case in point, and I apologize for ruining a little bit of
the movie, but at the beginning of "Finding Nemo" there is a scene
where a barracuda attacks Marlin (the dad clownfish) and Coral (the
mom clownfish). We see angry teeth, we see Marlin knocked unconscious,
we see Coral go to defend her eggs, and then we see Marlin waking up,
unable to find Coral and all of the eggs except one are gone. Dad
holds the egg, calls him Nemo, and tells the egg he’ll always take
care of him. The little kids in the theater – didn’t phase them. The
moms – gasps of sadness. Such seems to be the resilience of children.
Maybe the 5 to 10’s would be a little more moved, but the youngins
just wanted fun things to happen and they got quite a few of them in
"Finding Nemo," even if they didn’t understand some of them.Anyway,
"Finding Nemo" gives us a child clownfish, Nemo (voiced by Alexander
Gould), and an overprotective daddy clownfish, Marlin (voiced by
Albert Brooks). Low and behold, following an argument, Nemo gets
caught by a deep-sea diver who takes Nemo back to Sydney as a gift for
his niece. Marlin is crushed, and sets out across the ocean to find
his son. Unfortunately Marlin doesn’t swim fast enough to keep up with
the boat Nemo is now on, and begins questioning other fish if they’ve
seen the boat. Enter Dory (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres), a blue tang
who, unfortunately for Marlin, suffers from short term memory loss,
but, fortunately for Marlin, can read English. So it’s Marlin and
Dory, swimming through the ocean, facing all kinds of perils, looking
for a little clownfish who is now in a dentist’s office fish tank. Now
the movie switches back and forth from Nemo making some new friends in
the dentist’s office tank and Marlin and Dory’s travels. Both have
interesting tales to tell.
First you have Nemo. He’s the new kid in town and must go through
an initiation to be accepted as a member of the tank. There’s an
issue, though, in that Nemo is destined to be given to the dentist’s
niece who killed the last fish her uncle gave her. Fearing for his,
and all the other tank fish’s futures, Gill (Willem Dafoe), the leader
of the tank fish, hatches an escape plan. Meanwhile Marlin and Dory
are facing troubles of their own. They’ve got to deal with three
sharks in rehab, trying not to eat fish and falling off the wagon,
then there’s other fish with big teeth, a trip through jellyfish, a
ride on an ocean current with some fun turtles, and a whale. You can
guess that yes, Marlin and Nemo will be reunited, but it is the fun of
seeing the events leading up to the reunion that the writers at Pixar
always seem to great at.
Pixar has come a long way in terms of animation since the original
"Toy Story," but as important as the strides in the look of the movies
they make, if the story is lame, well, no one will care. Obviously the
stories are exceptional because there is no better promotion at this
point than saying "From the makers of "Toy Story" and "Monsters Inc.
comes…". "Finding Nemo" does not disappoint, although I think it does
lag a little behind the earlier Pixar films. The underwater characters
and scenery is unbelievable, and the casting seems to be perfect for
the voices. Albert Brooks is much better being Marlin than any real
characters he has played recently, Ellen DeGeneres totally nails the
scatterbrained Dory, and even Willem Dafoe comes across great as the
leader of the fish tank. Again Pixar has put together a film that is
fun for the kids, but just as important puts enough fun for the
parents to keep interested. Let wrap this up with 4 ½ stars out of 5.
That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!! |
