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Finding Nemo Customer Reviews (67 - 69 of 70 Reviews)
Ave Pixar!
When you discover Pixar is releasing a new animation movie, run to the theaters at first opportunity. Everyhting is good, from the little lamp icon to the short animation before the movie starts, including the plot of the movie, the characters, the scenes and the unbelievable way Pixar technicians are able to transform dreams into reality. They have done it before with both "Toy story" movies, with the funny-as-hell "Monsters Inc." and they've done it again in "Finding Nemo". Well, almost. I think the story of "Finding Nemo" could be more gripping and enterteining. Still, perfection is hard to be obtained.
This time there are no talking toys, no monsters that hide in children's closets. This time it's about the sea. The plot is very simple. Marlin is a clown-fish, living happy in his new home with his companion and 400 eggs waiting to be born. He has plans for his future family, but these plans all get shattered when something real bad happens and all he has left is one little egg, the future Nemo. Nemo's life is full of safety measures. He can't swim in open sea, he has no friends, and he's going to school really late. Unfortunately, Nemo is caught by a human diver, and, unless his father will find a way to go to Sydney, Australia, Nemo will spend the rest of his life as a pet of a saddistic child. (Yes, the story is weaker than the Toy Story series, and weaker than Monsters inc., but this is supposedly a kids' movie, so I really didn't expected nothing like a Fellini movie based on a book by Umberto Eco.)
This seemingly simple story is greatly complemented by the characters in the movie. In fact there are so many memorable characters that Nemo and his father Marlin get a little overshadowed. Ellen DeGeneres is the voice of Dory (most of the characters have facial resemblance to their voice interpreters), a blue fish that will help Marlin in his way to Sydney; that is, she will help him when she remembers to do it, because, like Guy Pierce in Memento, "she has this condition". Dory is, no doubt, the funniest character in the story (the scene where she tries to speak the many "whale dialects" made the whole theater laugh hard). Crush is a 150-year-old turtle who speaks in surfers' slang. Bruce is a shark that creates a group that helps other sharks to understand fish are friends, not food. There are many others, all good characters. All of them are stereotypes, but they are so intelligently stereotyped that it makes the difference.
The animation is so fantasticaly real that I think small children are not able to fully undertand what they're seeing on screen. You have to be more of a grown up to notice the perfect details provided by Pixar technicians. Attention to detail is so high praised that the research and study behind this single movie must amount to lots of hours. (In fact, I got scared when Bruce the shark goes berzerk, because of the kind of detail portrayed in this scene.) That is just to say, people of all ages should watch "Finding Nemo"; each one will find a particular reason to enjoy it in their own way.
I give "Finding Nemo" 4 stars, instead of 5, because I have to compare it with other, better Pixar movies, like the ones I mentioned before in this review.
Grade 8.4/10
Pixar Oughta be Ashamed
Now, I have to start out by saying that I've long loved Pixar's work - their Toy Story films are wonderful, A Bug's Life a real gem, and Monsters Inc. thoroughly enjoyable. With these great films in mind, I headed off to view Finding Nemo...only to find absolute disappointment.
Firstly, I have to say that Nemo is much more of a Disney film than a Pixar film. The overall nature of the story is cutesy, the language of the characters is full of modern-day buzz words and catch-phrases, and tired current issues such as short-attention-span syndrome are played to death. I didn't find any of the characters at all appealing, and didn't feel any concern for the outcome of the father-son search.
Secondly, I was really bothered by the lack of common sense in some important parts of the film - Nemo's little adventure through the plumbing system made no sense at all - that's just not possible. And what aquarist ever heard of a laser-operated filtration system? Please.
However, what really ticks me off about the film is the message that it sent to kids - fish can be flushed down the toilet without harm, and should be - it frees them. I recall all sorts of tales in the media about kids doing just this - but what really made me so angry was when Ellen DeGeneres made a parody of a public service announcement, sarcastically approaching the subject. Yet another example of animals being viewed as decorations, not living creatures. Just the fact that Pixar never addressed this issue in a serious way says so much.
If all this weren't enough, the film itself was boring - I found myself looking at my watch over and over. The animation was technically perfect, but the character design suffered abysmally. I will give Pixar's next two films a chance, don't get me wrong. But if they're anything like this one, I give up. What a shame.
Something for Everyone
One of the most overhyped animated movies of the last years, "Finding Nemo" is a visual delight, presenting a competent (if somehow predictable) all-ages story that manages to entertain and offer a few surprises along the way. It`s a worthwile and funny film with some hilarious moments (the sharks are great and way clever idea, as is Dory`s character, which prove that Pixar`s creators still have a couple of witty and innovative concepts). However, it`s far from being the masterpiece that so many claim it to be. It doesn`t bring nothing new aside from some visual delights, given that the storyline follows the classic Disney pattern (thankfully, it avoids the dull songs and the over-the-top cheesy moments). As a whole, though, it works rather well, combining its elements to provide an engaging and convincing cinematic experience.
Worth finding.
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