One of the most touching, heartwarming films I've ever seen. An absolute must-see.

Rating: 10/10 (1 June 2003)

To start this review, let me just say that there is a difference between a feel-good movie and a feel-warm movie. Toy Story 2 was built to be a feel-good movie, and it succeeded in spades. Finding Nemo was built to be a feel-warm movie, and wow, wow, wow, does it ever succeed in spades. If I wasn't so freakishly mature, I would have been sobbing like a baby during this movie, but rest assured I was choked up good. When the movie ended, the audience applauded (including me) and I left the theater with an involuntary dazzling smile on my face and a heart filled up like a water balloon. I'm going to say this right off the batÂ…this is Pixar's second best movie and so far one of the best movies of the year. It falls short of Toy Story 2 but only by a hair. This is one of the bravest movies Pixar has done. You see, Pixar has mastered the classic CGI comedy-adventure movie with a hint of drama. That's what made the Toy Story flicks and A Bug's Life so good. And Pixar could have easily used this winning formula for Finding Nemo, but it didn't. It instead tried to achieve a classic CGI drama-adventure with a hint of comedy. It was a daring risk that could have failed, but instead it succeeded beyond what I could have ever imagined. It was only touching, never mushy. Even though this is a wild under-sea adventure complete with a fish with bad memory and a surfer-dude turtle, it's a movie many people can relate to. You see, this movie is about Marlin, a fish who loses his son, the only one left from a shark attack that kills the rest of his children and his wife. And Marlin dedicates the rest of his life to raising and protecting his son, whom he names Nemo. But when Nemo is kidnapped by a diver, the only thing that meant anything to Marlin, the only big thing in his life he had left, is gone. Everyone knows what it's like to have something very, very important to them, be it a trinket or a son, and when it gets lost, many people will weep and not do anything. But it's a rare breed of people who try to search for that thing at any cost. And Marlin is part of that breed. He never gives up trying to find his son the entire movie, and that is the most heartwarming aspect of this movie. But that's not the only good thing about this movie. The score, the voicework, the animation, and the comedy also deserve major kudos. And while the movie is a little less satisfying than Toy Story 2 (emphasis on little), this is still Pixar's runner-up best movie and one of the best movies of the year. Highly recommended. Bring yourself, bring the kids, and bring the Kleenex.
I give this movie a perfect, well-deserved 10/10.