Great performances and art work; one of the best yet!

Rating: 8/10 (22 October 2004)

I'm not sure why this movie has been getting considerably lower ratings than previous, similar movies, such as Finding Meno and Ice Age. Perhaps reviewers feel it is not as original as Nemo. After seeing it's rating I was hesitant to see it. I'm glad I didn't let the ratings stop me. I thoroughly enjoyed it! The art work is incredible, perhaps the best yet, and the performances by all the actors, particularly Robert De Niro, Will Smith, Renée Zellweger, Jack Black, and Angelina Jolie, are all great. If you like animated films and want to be entertained, this is a great movie, not just a good movie!
The plot isn't exactly Shawshank Redemption, but neither was Finding Nemo or Lord of the Rings. Like Lord of the Rings, there is nothing clever about this movie, except the visual experience. Unlike Lord of the Rings which, except for the side story involving Frodo, Sam, and Gollum, was devoid of any real cleverness and relied almost totally on wowing the audience into a kind of stupor through endless, meaningless, unrealistic slaughter scenes, this movie contains at least some dignity and sensitivity.
When the time comes, I will definitely be adding a copy of Shark Tale to my DVD collection.