Here Fishy Fishy Fishy Fish

Rating: 6/10 (18 May 2005)

Finding Nemo: 6/10: As a kid's movie Finding Nemo is great. If somehow your munchkins don't already own a copy, have the toys or God forbid seen the ice show (there is something about fish on ice that's a bit creepy. Funny but creepy.) Feel free to buy a copy. You'll get your moneys worth, as the little animatrons will undoubtedly view it endlessly.
But as an adult with no little minds of my own to feed the movie left me wanting. For one thing I've seen it before... about a hundred times before. Parent loses kid, kid loses dog, dog loses family, family loses toy, and so forth. Then the endless journey filled with danger, setbacks and endless comic relief characters begins. Finding Nemo, at least narratively, doesn't bring anything new to the party.
The fact that Pixar themselves are guilty of using this exact same plot in all their movies doesn't help matters. (Pixar's next feature The Incredibles would actually break this trend somewhat and is the most adult friendly toon of theirs to date) The simple fact is after being spoiled by Shrek (or even Ice Age) I like my kids films to be more accommodating to adults.
Not that some things don't work very well indeed (Bruce the 12 step shark and the "mine, mine, mine," seagulls are particularly effective). It's just that the whole film had a cloying sentimentality I usually associate with NBC Olympic coverage or a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie about a Depression Christmas.
That said kids will love it. The animation is spectacular. And as these things go it certainly is very well done. Just not my cup of tea I guess. I prefer my fish with a little more bite and lemon and butter.