Decent, but no Monsters, Inc.

Rating: Null/10 (23 June 2003)

Pixar put together a fairly entertaining film with Finding Nemo, especially in light of the crop of terrible Hollywood offerings this summer (Matrix 2 and The Italian Job come to mind). Not as engaging or amusing as Monsters, Inc, but still an enjoyable diversion. I had expected this film to be a lot funnier than it was-- there were far too many times when it seemed the writers sensed they needed more comedy and decided, "Oh, we'll have the Ellen character forget something. Again." But there was enough about the movie that was amusing to keep my attention.
The major problem I had with the movie is that Disney and Pixar had a wonderful opportunity to make a fairly strong environmental comment with the potential to reach millions of future consumers (and potential polluters), yet they failed enormously.
I didn't buy a ticket to Finding Nemo expecting to see a "message movie." I did, however, expect to see the issue of pollution touched on, even in an antiseptic, stock-holder-friendly Disney kind of way. There were numerous opportunities for this, specifically at the point when Marlin and Dora enter Sidney harbor and are officially in man's domain. Yet Disney repeatedly dropped the ball. After having established a lovable cast of characters that the audience was entirely in love with, Disney easily could have presented at least a hint of the idea that mankind is doing serious and possibly irreparable damage to the environment. And that mankind can do something about it.
But that's alright, because Nemo went on to score the biggest opening weekend of any animated film! And in the end, that's what it's all about, right?