Review: Finding Nemo

The title clownfish (voiced by Alexander Gould), is raised by his overprotective widowed father Marlin (voiced by Albert Brooks), whose wife was eaten by a shark. However, Nemo is of schooling age, and it’s time to let go. On his first day, however, Nemo swims out beyond the reef and towards some scuba divers on a dare from some of his new school chums (School? Chum? See what I did? So clever…). He is captured and winds up in the fish tank of a Sydney dentist (voiced by Aussie character actor Bill Hunter). There he befriends some other fish, including Gill (voiced by Willem Dafoe) who sees a great escape plan in his head that will involve Nemo’s help. Meanwhile, Marlin searches the sea for his lost son, with only a forgetful fish Dory (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres) for (not much) help. Barry Humphries, Bruce Spence, and Eric Bana voice a trio of sharks who have apparently sworn off eating fish. Geoffrey Rush voices Nigel the surprisingly fish-friendly pelican.

 

I finally caught up with this beloved 2003 Pixar animated film, and I have to say, it’s easily one of their best efforts. Directed by Andrew Stanton (co-writer of the “Toy Story” series) and Lee Unkrich (co-director of “Toy Story 2”, director of “Toy Story 3”), it might not be quite as realistically rendered and textured as “Rango”, but it’s immediately stunning. Brightly coloured, it might just be Pixar’s most impressively animated film aside from “Monsters, Inc.” and this one has that one beat for sheer colour at least. Sure, the characters don’t quite seem to be as one with the backgrounds here, but for 2003? Amazing stuff and in my view, one of the most beautiful colour films ever made (along with the impressive likes of “Black Narcissus”, “Masque of the Red Death”, “The Wizard of Oz”, and “Vertigo”). There’s a really awesome scene with a whole mess of jellyfish that looks so incredibly gorgeous. I was particularly impressed with the human animation, usually a sore spot in CG-animated films. Yes, their faces still look cartoony, but at least from a texture point of view, the film improves over most others in human animation.

 

It’s also quite a funny film, with Albert Brooks voicing the overly cautious father Marlin a particular delight. He’s hilariously anxious. There’s also a funny bit where all the young ‘uns mention their shortcomings to make Nemo feel better and one says ‘I’m obnoxious!’. Although Barry Humphries overdoes the Aussie strine a bit, he and particularly Bruce Spence are good fun as not terribly bright sharks (Eric Bana voices the third one, apparently but I failed to recognise the voice), and the animation is top-notch there too. I also thought Gill’s (voiced by Willem Dafoe) ‘fool proof’ plan to escape the fish tank is pretty funny, because it’s so ridiculous. The crabs are also hilariously Aussie without getting too ‘ocker’ that they create cultural cringe. The final gag at the very end of the end credits is a very cute play on a previous event, as well.

 

If there’s a reason why this one for me is just a tad below “Monsters, Inc.” as an overall film it’s because the characters in this film don’t quite resonate as much. Yes, Marlin is a memorable character and so are the sharks, crabs, and Gill, but even Nemo himself isn’t a grabber, and the rest (which is quite a few) are just OK. I’m especially getting sick of hearing Brad Garrett in every damn animated film, by the way. By far the least enjoyable character I’m sad to say is Dory, voiced by the usually likeable Ellen DeGeneres. Dory’s amnesiac schtick gets old very fast, and becomes super annoying very quickly. I have absolutely no idea why people love Dory. I did like, however, that a lot of the characters were voiced by Aussies, as it kinda makes sense given the world on view in the film (Parts of the film are set in Sydney, most however is set in the Great Barrier Reef).

 

This is such a gorgeous-looking film, with a strong story and quite a lot of humour in it, too. The characters aren’t great, but otherwise this one’s a winner. I can see why this one’s so popular. The screenplay is by Bob Peterson (co-director of the overrated “Up”), David Reynolds (Disney’s likeable “The Emperor’s New Groove”), and director Stanton. 

 

Rating: B