And this is aimed at who, exactly?

Rating: 6/10 (1 November 2004)

I wanted to like this movie, I really did. Bob DeNiro can do very little wrong, and the rest of the cast are pretty special too. Will Smith can get up my nose a bit, but generally I don't have a problem with him. Yet this movie failed to win me over like Finding Nemo and it's less than stellar cast managed to do, and I could only give it a score of 6.0 in the end.
Part of the problem lies in the execution of the thing, the characters are often so anthropomorphised that they cease to look anything like fish and look more like mutants. The Will Smith character in particular didn't know what to be, looking like a very bizarre cross between a black rapper and a thing with long fins. Freaky. The whole use of technology, city streets, TV etc semed to be laid on a bit hick too, it just didn't sit right or make any sense at any level.
Who is this movie aimed at, I wonder? If it's kids, will they get all the gangster movie references? The actors, names and settings will all be familiar to adults who've seen plenty of that genre, but children? One of the main plot threads involves a vegetarian shark being an outcast, with the whole thing used as an analogy for gay son - tough father reconciliation. Gay gangster sharks for kiddies? Nah. Disappointing.