`Finding Nemo' is a treat for anyone seeking a fresh look at the computer-animated genre of family entertainment.

Rating: 8/10 (22 June 2003)

Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios have brought us some great computer animated tales over the past years. Beginning with `Toy Story' in 1995, followed by `Toy Story 2,' `A Bug's Life,' `Monsters, Inc. ' and now `Finding Nemo.' `Finding Nemo' is not as original or as creative as `Monsters, Inc.,' however, the film is extremely enjoyable as it is filled with lovable characters that will charm and amuse everyone. Speaking from a computer animated standpoint, it's the greatest achievement visually that the two companies have brought us.	`Finding Nemo' tells the story of Marlin (Albert Brooks), a clown fish that has left his coral reef home in search for his lost son, Nemo (Alexander Gould). Along his trek through the ocean, Marlin meets several humorous characters-one in particular, a fish named Dory (Ellen DeGeneres). Dory isn't like other fish. She suffers from short-term memory loss. As such, her flaw brings about some of the film's most comical parts as she consistently forgets her name, who she's with and where she is going.
On the other side of the ocean, Nemo has been captured and is living in a fish tank with several other oceanic fish in a dentist's office in Sydney, Australia. While there, he meets a fish named Gill (Willem Dafoe) who is the leader of the tank and has a plan of escaping and returning to the ocean. But there's a problem. The dentist's niece has her eye on Nemo. At the same time, word has spread by way of Nigel (Geoffrey Rush), a crane that lives on the sea and visits the fish from time to time, that Nemo's father has been traveling the ocean in search for his son. It's now up to Marlin with the help of Dory, sharks, whales and sea turtles to find Nemo in time before he is taken home with the dentist's niece. One of `Finding Nemo's' strongest points beyond its animation is its humor. Adults will find the film just as entertaining, if not more so than children. Some of the film's funniest points occur when Marlin and Dory happen upon three sharks that have vowed to stop eating fish, under a motto of `fish are friends, not food!' However, when the scent of blood from other fish is in the water, the shark's eyes turn black and they can't fight back the urge to eat fish. It leads to the sharks chasing Marlin and Dory through a sunken battle ship where depth charges are still very much active. When a torpedo is released, it touches a depth charge and a huge underwater explosion takes place. While on the surface, however, two gulls are wading when bubbles hit the surface. One of the gulls looks at the other with disgust and says, `nice.' Another strong point of `Finding Nemo' is how visually striking the image is. The film is filled with every color in the spectrum. What's more, the detail that went into the design of characters and the anemone where Marlin and Nemo live is exquisite. Never before has computer animation been so full of life and dimension as that of `Finding Nemo.' `Finding Nemo' is more than pure fun for the whole family-it's an achievement for Disney and Pixar in their pursuit to entertain at a higher level than usual brand of family entertainment. Incidentally, a great deal of which comes from Disney. It's necessary to point out the score of the film by Thomas Newman, who has composed scores for such films as `The Shawshank Redemption' and last year's wonderful `Road to Perdition.' The music is elegant, filled with emotion and amusement that reaches beyond the usual campy scores of Randy Newman, whose done most of Disney's computer animated films. In the end, `Finding Nemo' is a treat for anyone seeking a fresh look at the computer-animated genre of family entertainment. ***