Don't believe the cynics, this one's great!

Rating: Null/10 (17 September 2004)

It's risky to rave about a movie you just saw, making all the expectations that other people may have a lot higher. But in the case of Shark Tale I don't mind. All the journalists who saw the movie with me were very excited about the new computer animated DreamWorks flick. This movie deserves to be a massive hit!
Oscar (Will Smith) is a fast rapping streetwise kid who works in a whale-wash (a car wash where they clean whales) and dreams of one day becoming a somebody. When he takes credit of killing a shark (who actually got hit by an anchor) he becomes the Sharkslayer who has to protect the town. Unfortunately, the shark he claimed to have killed, happened to be the son of mobster Don Lino (Robert DeNiro). Soon Oscar finds every shark coming after him.
Lenny (Jack Black), the other son of Don Lino, has other problems. He happens to be a vegetarian who doesn't approve of the Mafia way of life and therefore always disappoints his father. Oscar and Lenny become friends and come up with a plan so Lenny can disappear and that can make Oscar the feared Sharkslayer the city needs. Lucky for them the plan works. But they were not prepared for all the consequences...
Everybody will compare Shark Tale to Finding Nemo and that would be a real pity: they're entirely different movies. For instance, Finding Nemo took place in the "country" while the scenery of Shark Tale is a stunning underwater version of New York, complete with a Times Square, yellow cabs and skyscrapers. Most of the characters in Finding Nemo were sweet and adorable, in Shark Tale they all have a dark side (with the exception of Jack Black and Renee Zellweger - she's the girl who is truly in love with Oscar). Not that it's a dark film, but everybody seems to be corrupted in a funny way.
The humour of Shark Tale aims more at adults than in Finding Nemo. Of course a lot of jokes are (mob) movie-based. We see glimpses of Jaws, Goodfellas, Titanic, Scarface, Superman 2 and Analyze This. Usually the jokes work out fine but sometimes they're very cheap (how many times have we heard the phrase Say hello to my little friend?). But although children will not understand all these cinematic references, the movie will certainly appeal to them as well. The story is told so fast that you can't even afford to blink your eyes!
In Cannes Shark Tale was heavily promoted on the fact that a lot of big Hollywood stars had a speaking part. This time that was really justified. Will Smith doesn't only do the voice of Oscar, the character also looks and moves like him! The same goes for Martin Scorcese (as Oscar's manager), Angelina Jolie (as the femme fatale) and Missy Elliot and Christina Aguilera (who have a small part singing a song).
But in the end Shark Tale is really the big "Will Smith versus Robert DeNiro" show. Smith does what he does best: rapping, cracking jokes, clowning around and be the Fresh Prince. DeNiro gives Don Lino the Italian authority and the humour we saw in Analyze This. I also liked Angelina Jolie. She did a great job as the sexy femme fatale who wants revenge after she got dumped by Will Smith.
A fast and entertaining story, great performances, stunning visual ideas (New York looks great! There are even floating billboards like in Blade Runner) and a fantastic soundtrack with songs from the seventies: Shark Tale is a highly entertaining feature that will appeal to both parents and kids. The only thing that bothered me was the moralising ending (but then you can't have it all).
My prediction? A 55 million dollar opening week and Shark Tale 2 in 2006!