Under the sea... they have parenting problems as well

Rating: Null/10 (4 January 2019)

A morose and neurotic clownfish named Marlin is raising his son Nemo alone after a barracuda ate his wife and all the rest of his children. (Trust me, it's a family film.) But then Nemo gets taken by Man, that great monster from the above world. And so Marlin has to go and find him. And we have our movie.
I remember seeing this film when it came out and thinking that Pixar had really upped their game. Monsters, Inc. looked nothing compared to this and it's only a couple years older. All the locations underwater are breathtakingly beautiful, even today. Bursting with colour and life, hiding all sorts little details, nooks and crannies. And the fishes look great as well. There's a subtle scale detail on Marlin and Nemo that you only see in close-ups, but it's that extra layer of detail that completely sells it.
True, the human characters are still a bit wonky, but even they have improved a lot from Monsters, Inc.
Unfortunately, what keeps this film from being one of Pixar's all time greats, is the fact that the characters are not as good as they have been up to this point. Marlin especially is an aggravating character with his constant whining and scaredy cat antics. Yes, it's understandable and sympathetic to a point, and he does learn, but it's played up just a bit too much.
Nemo is also a bit underdeveloped, but luckily the film has good characters as well. Chief amongst them being Dory, who's a bit of a one-joke character, but somehow the design, the jokes themselves and the voice acting by Ellen DeGeneres make it work beautifully.
Finding Nemo is quality entertainment, don't get me wrong. It only pales in comparison to other Pixar films, and even amongst them it's up there. Definitely worth a watch for kids and adults alike.