Gang de requins

Round two of the Pixar/Dreamworks choose-a-theme competition scores once again for Pixar.

Remember when a few years ago there were two animated ant movies to choose from? I think they even came at the same time in the theaters in my country. One was AntZ, the other was A Bug's Life. The first one was rumoured to be more suited to adults, the other a kiddie movie. While that statement had some merit, at the end it turned out that A Bug's Life was a far better movie entertainment-wise, despite cuter characters and simpler story and all that kiddie-like appearance. AntZ were just plain dull.

Pixar seems to like choosing a simple story, one that a kid can understand, and than building upon it creating a wonderful movie for all ages. Dreamworks builds his scripts on pop-culture references and more adult themes, and while it works sometimes (Shrek was fantastic), at other times it just falls flat.

Some say it's unfair to compare Finding Nemo and Shark Tale, them being totally different movies with the only matching characteristic being antropomorphic fish, but it seems that the comparison is inevitable. It's the ants thing all over again. Finding Nemo was simply wonderful, great movie with a perfect sense of humour and memorable characters. Sure, they were cute and cuddly, but they had a soul.

Shark Tale, again, tries to appeal to the adults, but this time the results are even worse. The characters are not so important as the cast is, even so much that we are being sledgehammered on the head in who's playing who. A word to the wise - I don't care how big the names doing the voicework are, I want to immerse in the movie's story. When I saw Shrek, I didn't see Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy there, I saw Shrek and Donkey. Here I see De Niro, Smith, Scorsese and so on. At one point I even caught myself wondering why the other fish keep calling Will Smith "Oscar".

As for the story, it kind of drags along. I couldn't really sympathize with the lead character - he is at the same time stupid and so full of himself that I didn't care about his motivations or the messes he got himself into. Also, somehow the story didn't map so well in the underwater world. What is the Shark mafia exactly ? Are they supposed to be predators or criminals? Basically the mafia thing is here only to serve as a playground for mob-movie references, but it serves no purpose story-wise. Also, the entire world seems very unbelievable. Flahing electrical neon signs? Fire hydrants? It actually backfires, since instead of getting a kick out of fishes living like humans, mostly you feel like you're watching an alien movie, with the aliens resembling our world's fishes in some ways.

All in all, I did enjoy the movie, but only in the sense that I didn't feel cheated out of my money. A couple of the jokes worked, some pop-culture references were funny, the movie was not too boring. But when I remember that after Nemo or Incredibles I was smiling even a few hours after the movie, then I see that Shark Tale ain't what it possibly could be. It's just a popcorn movie, easily forgettable. And rightfully so.

This CG animated feature can't boast a truly great story, but it does go far enough on the abilities of its very well chosen cast. It stars Will Smith as the voice of Oscar, a tongue scrubber at a "whale wash" in an undersea kingdom. Oscar talks big and dreams big, and is tired of being a "nobody". So when one of the sons of great white godfather Don Lino (voice of Robert De Niro) perishes, Oscar takes credit for killing the shark, and becomes the toast of the town. He also becomes friends with Lenny (voice of Jack Black), Don Linos' wimpy, vegetarian son.

"Shark Tale" is good entertainment overall, with plenty of amusing character design, and a respectable amount of energy. The filmmakers do come up with a lot of chuckle-inducing jokes, both verbal and visual. But the real hook is in hearing various actors play animated sharks as mobsters. On one level, the movie is okay viewing for younger viewers (although it might be somewhat intense for the youngest of them), and on another level, it's savvy comedy for grownups, with references to well known mob movies of the past.

Smith is a real live wire as the fast talking Oscar, De Niro is a pleasure, and Renee Zellweger is appealing as Angie, Oscars' co-worker who's really in love with him. Angelina Jolie is just right as the self-serving, seductive fish who only attaches herself to Oscar when she thinks he's going places. Various other familiar voices here, too: Peter Falk, Michael Imperioli, Vincent Pastore, and Ziggy Marley and Doug E. Doug as a pair of Rastafarian jellyfish. It's a particular treat to hear the master filmmaker Martin Scorsese, who lends his voice to Sykes, a frequently flustered puffer fish.

The hip, catchy soundtrack also helps to make this an agreeable 90 minute long outing.

Seven out of 10.

I did like Shark Tale, but there is a lot wrong with it. I did think the animation was very nicely done, and I liked the references to Jaws and Godfather. But I do think that Finding Nemo was much better than this. Shark Tale could have been a great film, had it not been devoid of humour and heart. My first problem with the film was Will Smith. He tries to be funny, but as the film progresses, he gets tiresome, and at times you feel like you want to reach into the screen and put a hand over his mouth. There were times when the script was funny, and there were some nice ideas, but the pace of the whole film was uneven. The characters could have been developed a lot more, particularly Lenny(a nice surprise from Jack Black), and whereas there were a number of nice visual jokes, there is some very over-familiar material in the script. Kids may find the sharks a bit frightening, and adults won't find much to enjoy, with the exception of the talented voice cast, such as Angelina Jolie, whose Lola(a very beautiful fish) was one of the better characters, Rennee Zellwegger, who deserved better than she was given and Robert DeNiro, whose shark was just a caricature of the Godfather. Though it is Martin Scorsesse who gives the most entertaining vocal contribution. And I did like the music score. All in all, it is nice to look at, but there are some parts of the film that aren't as interesting as intended. I did like the film, but I was kind of confused at who it was aimed at. 6/10 Bethany Cox.

The star power in this movie really made the difference...u can see really see Robert De Niro in the way the shark moves and talks. Martin Scorcese as Skyes is pretty cool...and Will Smith isn't too bad either. The only part that I would be critical about is that the story isn't very original.At times its even predictable. But all in all the movie is funny...Jack black as Lenny is great. Those who liked Finding Nemo would probably like this movie too..(Although it isn't as good as Finding Nemo) Worth a watch...for kids as well as for adults.Angelie Jolie was a great choice to play the part of Lola.The animation in this film is brilliant...buts thats something v have come to expect of animated films..isn't it!!

It could be just me but I thought that the humor in this movie was perfect. I laughed lot's of times throughout the movie and was very entertained by it. I however think that this movie will not be loved by young children, they simply will not be able to understand most of the jokes and the movie also lacks some 'likeable Disney type of characters' for them.

I never was really interested to go and watch this movie since it got lot's of bad reviews and I thought that the trailer looked horrible and very unfunny. I however decided to pick up this movie nevertheless because I was interested in how the famous voice cast would pull off, Martin Scorsese in particular. I was pleasantly surprised when I watched the movie. the humor was spot on and I was entertained the whole time. I know lot's of people probably are going to hate me for this but I thought this movie was even better and more entertaining than any of the two Shrek movies.

The movie doesn't have a whole lot of story and is pretty average in every way. I however feel that this is one of this movies were the story really is secondary. The movie has your average love story, in which Angelina Jolie's character is really unnecessary and adds absolutely nothing, in my opinion but watching Robert De Niro's character scream and shout and giving orders to Martin Scorsese's character on the other hand was absolutely priceless.

Will Smith was a great main character and just as entertaining as Eddie Murphy in an animated movie.

I predict that the music in this movie will be absolutely hated in 20 years by now, just as much as I hate '80's music in movies now. No, I really didn't liked the songs in this movie mainly because in unlike the Shrek movies, they aren't any evergreens.

If you plan to buy this movie for your kids, think twice, you're probably better of watching "Finding Nemo" with them. If you're a adult or young adult that likes animated movies, this movie might be worth your time and money, although the humor in this movie is really a matter of taste.

8/10

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