Another world (and, finally, the movie that gets us there)

Rating: 10/10 (29 June 2003)

I think that some of the more recent box-office successes have been attractive because they have been able to transport people out of this hectic world into some other place. These movies, such as the original Star Wars Trilogy, the first Matrix movie, The Lord of the Rings, and others, have created this escape in enough depth and detail such that the viewer feels fully removed from their actual surroundings.
Only a handful of these movies though, can take the audience somewhere else and still deal with real-world issues, all at once. Finding Nemo is one of these movies. And believe me, this "other world" is like nothing you've ever seen on the big screen.
Pixar has out-done everyone, INCLUDING themselves. Finding Nemo's underwater world is on the one hand distant and mysterious and on the other distinguishable and realistic. The ocean setting has allowed Pixar to really let loose -- with amazing canvases of brilliant color, a shimmering, shifting, particulate-filled sea, and some of the best drawn non-human characters ever. In Finding Nemo there is a wonderful paradox: a far-away world that you can actually visit when you leave the theater.
But Finding Nemo's fantasy and reality two-step doesn't stop with the animation. The story takes that same theme. The characters -- a family of clown fish, a blue tang, a posse of sharks, pelicans, crazy seagulls, and the demonic dentist's daughter -- add a sense of fantasy and humor. But their trials -- the young one finding himself, a father's struggle against loss, the lonely one's sense of need, and the elder's desire to break free from his trapped life -- are real-world, everyday issues. And, in typical Disney fashion, the movie is moved along by an epic quest that brings all of these disparate pieces together. Everything in Finding Nemo is allegorical, and although the story line itself is not as creative as some show-stopping narrative like Requiem for a Dream, the way the script relates to both the characters at the fantasy level and the audience at the reality level is novel and inspiring.
Despite some of my roommates' skepticism, I wanted to see this movie from the moment I first heard the concept. For me -- that's some hype to live up to. But unlike the sequels in the Matrix and Star Wars series, Finding Nemo delivers -- a fantasy / reality combination that I hope won't soon be forgotten. 10/10