The Perfect Family Classic

Rating: 10/10 (28 June 2006)

Finding Nemo is undoubtedly one of the best animated movies of all time. It represents Pixar's crowning achievement, which they have been unable to top before or since. Aside from a funny, interesting, and engaging story, it features stunning CGI used in, as always, Pixar's creative and never-boring manner. Written, directed, and voice acted to perfection, it will stand as a monument of amazing film-making for both kids and adults for years to come.
We are introduced at the beginning to a married clown fish couple: Marlin and Coral. They are ready to settle down on the edge of the ocean and start a family; in a little cove in the cliff rest over 400 eggs just about ready to hatch. As we all know, an evil barracuda comes along and eats both Coral and nearly all the 400 eggs, leaving only Marlin and a cracked/bruised egg that eventually grows up to be Nemo. On his first day of school, though, he gets caught by fishermen and taken to a dentist's house in Sydney. Thus, Marlin, worried sick about his son, sets off on a long quest to rescue little Nemo.
Right from the beginning, the relationship between Nemo and Marlin is perfect. As father and son, they are completely believable and we instantly fall in love with both of them. We can feel Marlin's heartbreak over his son who has been stolen from him. The entire cast of voice actors was perfectly chosen, with one particular one worth mentioning: Ellen Degeneres as Dory. If anybody else had voiced the blue and yellow short-term memory loss fish, she would have come off as annoying and pointless. Degeneres plays her just perfectly so that we can't help but like her. Willem Dafoe is also particularly noteworthy. His role as Gill is just creepy/mysterious/fatherly enough that the kind of presence his little fish body exudes is impressive.
The conciseness of the movie was quite well done too. In an age where Pixar movies are getting longer and longer (both Cars and The Incredibles nearly exceeded the two hour mark) this one seems just about perfectly the right length; not too short, not too long. Character development is thus heightened and enhanced because of this; we don't see so much of these fish that we get sick of them, but we see just enough that we kind of hunger for more. The way Marlin's and Dory's friendship grows throughout the movie is also really impressive. All the side characters in the movie, too, (such as Nigel the pelican, Crush the turtle, and Bruce the shark) are so colorful and full of life that never once do they come off as gimmicks or fillers. Everything in Finding Nemo serves a purpose for something else - there is no wasted space.
The score, though nothing extraordinary, is still amazing and superbly fits well into the framework of the movie. Nothing really stands out as "hey this is Finding Nemo music", but that's okay. It always takes a backseat to the story - never pushing itself so far forward that it eclipses the characters. Another bonus - there are no songs, besides "Beyond The Sea", but that only plays during the credits. Oh yes, and of course Dory's eternal: "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming..." If you haven't seen Finding Nemo yet, you are missing out on one of the greatest classics to ever swim in the sea. It is so perfectly put together, and is such a pure and fun movie. If you have seen it, though, go ahead and see it again. It's that good.