A poor attempt to reference to pop-culture.

Rating: Null/10 (22 October 2005)

Remember all the good old classics? The father trying to let the son inherit the kingdom in The Godfather? Or, how about the scary theme music in Jaws? Not interested in those? Maybe music is your "cup of tea." You may enjoy the fast-talking rappers from the ghetto, or singing "Don't worry, about a thing, because every little thing, is going to be all right" to Bob Marley.
Perhaps this is what Pixar was thinking when they came out with Shark Tale.
Oscar is a fish in debt. He owes his boss tons of money. His lady friend gives him a pearl that once belonged to her grandmother, because she cares for Oscar. Oscar sells the pearl for the money, (Don't worry. This was the intention of it all.) but greedily bets it all in a horse race. After his horse loses, his boss orders his to wannabe-Jamaican jellyfish to kill him. Before the two jellyfish have time to kill him, a shark comes. The shark's name is Lenny, who is friendly, but must become a killer. He tries to make it look like he eats Oscar, but in his compassion, he saves Oscar. This is found out by Lenny's brother, Frankie, who gets angry and tries to punish Lenny. An anchor falls on top of Frankie, and kills him. Oscar takes this opportunity, and pretends he killed the shark. Oscar takes up the new name "Oscar the Shark Slayer." Now, we get to the bad parts. There were so many flaws; I don't know where to start. First of all, the characters were very bad. The gangster sharks seem to be copying The Godfather. (One of them is even played by Robert De Niro.) But, of course most children wouldn't be too familiar with The Godfather, would they? How about Jaws? The sharks also seem to enjoy singing the theme to Jaws. You will find the opening scene very similar to the part where Hooper is placed in the cage. Even "Say hello to my little friend," when a tiny shrimp tries to get revenge when Lenny's father tries to make Lenny actually kill something.
A Bug's Life was similar the Seven Samurai. The Incredibles was incredibly similar to the Fanatastic Four, but out of all computer-generated films, Shark Tale has to be the least original.
"Young people all into their ghetto rap and hip-hop, nowadays. What if we put in some music into the next Pixar movie? That way all those hip youngsters will love this one," said a worker at Pixar Studios.
Oscar lives in the ghetto. He dreams of becoming a rapper. He uses the term "old-school." He plays Play Station 2. Is this what the stereotypical teenager imagines nowadays? Obviously, Shark Tale tries ("Tries" is the key word.) to connect with the children living in the year 2004. Sadly, they fail miserably. The two jellyfish sing Bob Marley songs, for crying out loud!
Besides, killer whales don't hang out with sharks. (They eat sharks.)That's a mistake in an already flawed movie.
5/10