Grade A Quality

Rating: 10/10 (24 July 2006)

I'm always consistently amazed at what Pixar is able to do. With each passing film, they improve their craft again and again, transporting us to worlds where toys talk, insects can make inventions, and where monsters live and work just like we do. With their latest release, "Finding Nemo," I am reminded once again why I love going to the movies.
The environment of the film is painfully detailed and realistic. My favorite example occurs in the salt-water fish tank that Nemo is being held in. In order to escape, the fish have to sabotage the tank. When they do sabotage it, the tank begins to get dirty instantly. If you've ever had a salt-water tank, you know that as soon as the little bubble thing stops working, the grim begins to gather and start forming in the tank almost instantly. It's such a great touch.
Two of my favorite scenes involved the jellyfish forest and the inside of the whale. Marlin and Dory have to race through a jellyfish forest. All around are these pink orbs with tentacles and the animation is sharp and quick. It is a heart racing sequence that I honestly feel had the same excitement level of the car chase scene in "The Matrix Reloaded." The whale scene is just beautifully detailed, particularly on the whale's tongue. I honestly thought it was a real tongue.
Speaking of real, Pixar has the incredible ability to cause you to forget that toys, insects, monsters, and now fish aren't actually human. They talk just like humans do ("What is with men and asking for directions?"). A standout scene occurs when Marlin has given up and saving Nemo and is ready to abandon Dory and go back to the reef. Dory gives an impassioned, demonstrative plea to not give up and keep her on as a friend, something that she sees Marlin desperately needs. The scene does not at all feel out place in this tightly paced film.
The reason this film works is because these fish seem human and because the fish display their voice's owners great. Even if you've just seen the previews for "The In-Laws," you can see that Albert Brooks has experience playing the nervous, frantic, neurotic worrywart. Marlin's facial expressions even resemble a few of Brooks'. Dafoe's Gill is edgy, but has a hint of quiet desperation lined with hope of getting back to his home waters and out of that awful tank. But the real scene stealer is DeGeneres as Dory. Scatterbrained, peppy, light-hearted, and caring with an obvious intelligence, Dory is simply the core of the film. DeGeneres deserves an Oscar nomination for such a fine performance.