Right up there with Toy Story and Toy Story 2; well-animated with a good plot.

Rating: 10/10 (10 June 2003)

Finding Nemo was an excellent film, in my humble opinion, from start to finish. I walked into the theater without particularly high expectations. Since the trailers had told us absolutely nothing about the movie, I actually assumed that Dory and Marlin were man and wife (or something); I questioned how a movie of any length could be carried entirely by a fish's search for his son. I must confess that my expectations were completely exceeded. I was blown away.
I'm not going to sit here and summarize the movie for you; just go watch for yourself. (133/135 favorables at RottenTomatoes.com, for the record.) But I will say this: this is not just a kid's film. I'm a 19 year old girl, and I think it's safe for me to say that theoretically I shouldn't empathize overmuch with either father or son (being a far cry from a kid aching to go to school, or a fretting mother). It was funny and exciting, following in the tradition of Pixar films, with jokes for all ages. You know you should expect the happy ending, but certain moments still make you jump and fret a little or sit at the edge of your seat.
Of course, the animation was brilliant. Kudos to the CGI team and RenderMan for a job well done. The water program is very nice, the coral reef brilliant and teeming with life. The scenes from above the water were photorealistic at times. And beyond the computer animation, I'd like to offer a few thanks to the team that made the water gravity work (things fall in water, even fish; they just fall differently) and the fish move. I've hardly seen anything about it, but the movements are very realistic and follow the real patterns of fish movement (Dory swims in short spurts; "Built for speed" as she puts it; Marlin rows with his tail and uses his fins in an alternating pattern). Nemo's movement is different, as well; he swims with more of his body to make up for his bad fin. It's seamless, and thus hardly noticable.
The music is whimsical and has a bit of a dreamlike quality. When Marlin loses the boat the music makes me think of a bad dream. I really love the score; I bought it today, and now I like it even better. :)
Themes, themes, themes. Every movie has to have one, and the most frequent complaint seems to be that Finding Nemo's theme is shallow. I don't know much about making a good theme, but I will tell you that what theme there was acted as wonderful character development. There's bravery, friendship, and parenthood stuff going on in there. It stikes a chord partially because those on the developing team know so much about letting children grow up, since many of them have kids, too. I think the feeling the producers put into the film comes through in the film itself, anyway.
On the subject of character development: If Dory was the comic relief, then Marlin was the one that carried the movie. There are those that find Marlin annoying, and those that feel Albert Brooks is undistinguished in this role (apparently Marlin is the quissential Brooks character), but while Dory made me laugh, I always wanted to know what was going to happen next with Marlin. His constant fretting just made sense to me; this is his son we're talking about after all, and Marlin is keenly aware of how much personal danger he is in when he leaves the reef. (He and Dory almost get eaten six times, if you consider that the jellyfish are indeed 'trying' to eat them.) Also, it's understated, but the fact that Marlin leaves the reef is a huge deal for him, being something of a coward; and outside their anemones, clownfish are completely defenseless. Besides, Dory really helps balance out Marlin's pessimism.
Dory/Marlin interaction is funny, actually; Marlin is always the parent with these two. He has to be. And he does indeed equivocate Dory with Nemo in his mind, on some level, as demonstrated in the belly (or mouth) of the whale. But Dory teaches Marlin some things, and Marlin teaches Dory a little, and the audience is thoroughly entertained by their banter in the meantime.
I thought all of the voice acting was brilliant, actually. Degeneres cracks me up. Whale scene; enough said. It apparently took her two days of speaking whale to produce all that. Albert Brooks may have been built for the role, but he's all the better for it. His voice almost breaks in all the right places. Honorable mentions go to Alexander Gould, who really managed to project himself into Nemo. One tends to forget this is a kid's voice-acting. Geoffery Rush, the pelican, is a brilliant character. I only wish there was more of him. Willem Dafoe; do I really have to say anything? Brilliant as always. Crush is voiced by Mr. Stanton himself, and all I have to say is 'Duuuude'. My friends and I have been saying "You were like, 'Woah!', and we were like, 'Woah!!', and you were like, 'wooooah'," for days now. Very, very nice.
To quickly compare it to other Pixar films, I'd say this was more ambitious than any of the other films in terms of scope, and more ambitious than every film except A Bug's Life in terms of choice of protagonist. (A movie about fish. Come on!) Depending on your taste, you might like any of the other Pixar movies better, but I'll say now that if Toy Story and Toy Story 2 are my favorites, Nemo is right up there next to them.
My rating: 5 out of 5. Brilliant, witty, goofy, adventurous, and even a bit suspenseful. Well done, Pixar. Well done.