Fun for adults

Rating: 7/10 (18 April 2005)

I liked 'Shark Tale'. It is funny and has quite some original elements I will not spoil for you. But while I was watching I realized how many jokes were there intended for adults and how little for children. Since I guess you have to label this as a family film I was wondering if that was really the intention of the filmmakers. I mean, the main inspiration comes from R-rated films 'The Godfather' and 'Jaws'. Other little jokes and one-liners find their origin in films like 'Scarface', 'Gladiator' and 'Apocalypse Now', again R-rated.All those great laughs, for me at least, will not be funny or even remotely understood by children.
That said, let's approach this film as a comedy mainly made for adults. Again, adults will probably find this very funny, even funnier when you have seen quite some films. The story tells about Lenny (voice by Jack Black), a shark who happens to be a vegetarian, a disgrace for his father Don Lino (Robert De Niro). This shark makes a deal with a small fish named Oscar (Will Smith). On the reef where Oscar lives they think Oscar killed another shark, Lenny's brother, so Lenny and Oscar try to keep the rumor that way. Subplots involve Oscar's longtime friend Angie (Renée Zellweger) who is secretly in love with him, a new fish Lola (Angelina Jolie) who likes Oscar now he is famous, and Sykes (Martin Scorsese), a fish who used to be Don Lino's partner but now teams up with Oscar. Sykes has two helpers, the funny sidekicks any Disney-film would be proud of.
What can I say more about this film? The animation is good, although I liked the approach with 'Finding Nemo' better. On the other hand, this is the kind of film where realistic animation probably would be out of place. Now I have mentioned 'Finding Nemo' I could compare it a little more. 'Nemo' is the better film since it is equally funny for adults and close to the perfect film for children. 'Nemo' was simple in its story but very inventive as well in the little things. Think about the fish with short term memory loss. Things like that you will not find in 'Shark Tale' but you will have many laughs and smiles. Especially the one-liners taken from other films were hilarious but I have to say again; you must have seen the other film to really like it. I did, I laughed.