Personal Review

Rating: 9/10 (5 May 2013)

The general plot of the story is about Marlin (Albert Brooks), who is accompanied by a rather odd fish Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), scouring the seemingly endless ocean for his lost son Nemo (Alexander Gould) who was unfortunately captured by divers and taken away.
The theme of the movie essentially seems to be overcoming your fears. I feel this is the theme of the film because Marlin, even at the beginning of the movie, seems very nervous and fearful of the oceans dangers. Before Nemo was captured Marlin had always tried to protect him due to the tragic loss of his beloved Coral (Elizabeth Perkins) and the entirety of their eggs (aside from Nemo). I feel this derived a rebellious nature in Nemo which may have led to his capture in the first place. Getting back on track, Marlin overcame his fears of the ocean by battling sharks, avoiding deadly jellyfish, withstanding a barrage of exploding undersea mines, riding the EAC (East Australian Current), and various other acts of bravery and courage.
By the end of the film I found that Marlin and Nemo had formed a stronger bond as father and son because they had realized each other's point of view and mixed it with their own. Nemo realized how unsafe things could be through him initially getting caught and when he tried to block the tank filtration system and kind of "tightened" up to safety. Marlin, who overcame his fears of the dangerous sea, sort of loosened up and wasn't so uptight with Nemo after he was back safely.
There are many movies that share the general theme of Finding Nemo. One, ironically, is Little Nemo Adventures in Slumberland. This film is particularly old and the theme is a little more elaborate, but I chose it both for significance of theme and irony. Basically for Little Nemo the theme also refers to overcoming fear. If you don't mind looking past the finding a fish compared to stopping a dark "Pandora's box" unleashing at least.
Two techniques that were used that I am particularly fond of are the color and sound. I may be a little bias towards Disney/Pixar and THX but nonetheless I like how they work. The scene that really caught my attention however was Nemo's first day of school. Getting on the teacher's back heading out to "explore" in that first person view of the reef really made me admire the beauty of the actual reef. The vivid and assorted vibrant colors captured the reality the film was trying to portray.
The scene that I felt had the greatest sound impact and kind of threw every effect together at once, for the most part, was at the harbor. When Marlin and Dory found their way into the Sydney harbor I was bombarded with spectacular sea/harbor sounds ranging from buoy bells to waves crashing elegantly off the stationed boats to the seagulls cawing (not the "MINE!?" seagulls either). This scene was so vivid and real for me that I could almost feel the breeze through my hair and taste the salt in the air.
Overall I enjoyed the film and even though my insight on the theme of overcoming fear may be different than many or most viewers I believed it was a significant point to make.