Big Name Stars Don't Make The Film Any Better.

Rating: 4/10 (4 June 2010)

A mafia film of sorts, set underwater and with fish. Will Smith is Oscar, a fish that lies about killing a shark. The shark was actually killed by a dropped anchor, yet Oscar was at the scene and is now known as the Sharkslayer. Mob Boss Robert DeNiro hears about his son's death and takes matters into his own hands, this doesn't bode well for Oscar.
Shark Tale at first glance seems to be a mere rip off of Finding Nemo. The Pixar film that had fish as their main characters was charming, funny and adventurous. It's not fair to compare the two, since this film lacks all of those ingredients. Shark Tale instead relies on pop-culture references to get the adults smirking and the bright colourful fish to get the kids wanting the toys. The story, the animation and the fun are all below the bar. With every film that is released by Dreamworks, the inevitable will happen. People will compare it to Pixar. Pixar is simply in another league, they seem to care about their stories and characters and not just having a bunch of people cash in on the current craze.
Shark Tale has an impressive cast, if this were a live action dramatic film, starring Will Smith, Angelina Jolie, Robert DeNiro and was directed by Scoresese, then we might have a masterpiece on our hands. Alas, the actors of this world think that just because they lend their voice to an animated character, that their job is half done for them. Jack Black works in this film, even DeNiro, who plays up on his past roles. Jolie, Zellweger and Smith do not. They have nothing to add to the film that some nameless actress/actor could have done.
There is no sense of adventure. We are trapped under the sea instead of exploring the depths of this world. It was interesting to see the fish life here, but I'm sure we've all seen creative takes on modern life in a film that has an odd setting, The Flinstones is famous for this.
I still hear people talking about Finding Nemo today, hell even older animated films like Toy Story, but Shark Tale seemed to have faded the next day after the release. It's not memorable to kids, nor will adults find any real charm or wit. The film tries to hard with a lot of the jokes and references that it becomes tiresome.
Shark Tale fails because it would rather have big name stars on the poster, than a tangible and interesting story. I'm sorry, but at the end of the day, what matters most in a film is the story. Sure, it can be done before, but as long as the story teller and the story telling is good and has my interest, I'm game. Shark Tale did none of this and it felt lazy, much like the cast.