All About The Reef

Rating: Null/10 (3 June 2004)

In `Finding Nemo' we have not only a movie designed for adults and children but a tour-de-force in computerized animation. The obvious attention by the filmmakers to real environments is underscored by our constant study of the screen; there is, like on a real reef, frenetic activity in all of our view.
Following the adventures of a father fish (Marlin, voice of Albert Brooks) in pursuit of his kidnapped (by a diver to his aquarium) son (Nemo, voice of Alexander Gould) we meet a bevy of characters along the way. In turn we have fish schools (both of an academic nature and the more easily imagined natural sea configuration), non-traditional sharks, turtles and a host of other ocean creatures anthropomorphically styled. There is nearly no end to the pleasure received from each animated revelation.
The obvious care with which the undersea environment is depicted speaks volumes for the research done by the studio artists. With nearly all contemporary eyes cast heavenwards, it still remains that the vitality of reef life forms serve as a perfect centerpiece for cartoon mayhem.

During one particular chase scene involving sharks we see at its best the dynamic plasticity of animated characters; that quality of animators to stretch the physical reality of any corporeal subject, i.e, the mashing of an impassively expressionless fishes' face as it strikes an object, encouraging empathetic discomfort on the part of the viewer. This is abstraction at its finest, since it imbues the pratfall with fantasy.
There is a scene involving Dory meeting a whale that is for our money the funniest one moment ever recorded in animated film. Combined with the entire body of work Ellen Degeneres offers towards the success of `Nemo' we see her in an entirely new light.
That `Nemo' is one of the best animated films ever made is in little doubt. This is a true four-star effort; there is not one flaw evident. Or to put it another way, what would you have done differently?