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Wednesday, June 18, 2003
Finding Nemo
By Jojie Alcantara
TRUST Pixar to come up with another breathtaking animated glory since Toy Story, A Bug's Life and Monsters, Inc.
This is NOT a kid's movie. I kid you not (pun intended). Set in the glorious underwater aquarium that is The Great Barrier Reef, this fish tale is so vibrant, alive and so captivating that the first few seconds into the film you are caught hook, line and sinker.
"Finding Nemo" follows the misadventures of Marlin, an overly protective clownfish and single dad (it has a swift tragic opening scene that tugs at your heart) trying his best to raise his only child named Nemo (a cute little thing with large fish eyes voiced by Alexander Gould). They live in the anemones, of course.
Nemo's a pretty typical kid (although he has a little setback, his "lucky fin" which is a tiny, undeveloped right fin); he wants to strike out on his own, have a little fun, and go wherever his friends do. But his father keeps telling him the ocean is not safe. On Nemo's first day of school, Marlin follows him around, embarrassing him in front of his new classmates.
Pushed too far, Nemo disobeys a direct order and winds up captured by divers and taken live in a dentist's fish tank in Sydney, Australia. So Marlin (voice of Albert Brooks) desperately tracks down his son in hopes of saving him and bringing him back. The adventure and climactic scenes from then on never abates. The film is so rich in fishy characters that are so fleshed out; you forget it's just an animated film. There's Dory, the blue tang that has a hilarious and aggravating short-term memory loss. With the voice of Ellen Degeneres, the fish is a howler. I end up hysterically laughing at her unintentional antics.
As they set off to Sydney Harbor to save the kid, they meet these zany characters along the way: the sensitive sharks - a great white named Bruce, a hammerhead named Anchor, and a Mako named Chum who try to fight off craving for fish and has a support group called "Fish are Friends, Not Food". There is the deadly jellyfish adventure, the gang of sea turtles who talk like Californian surfer dudes (you will love Crush and his son Squirt) and ride the swift East Australian Current like pros. Lots more enchanting characters from the deep blue! Of course, there are the unforgettable characters in the fish tank too. There is "Gill", a mysterious and brooding Moorish idol (voiced by the mysterious and brooding Willem Dafoe); a peculiar pelican named Nigel (voiced by Geoffrey Rush) who has a soft spot for all species except seagulls.
Don't miss that cute starfish named "Peach" or that funny French talking shrimp goby, or the giant whale and its hilarious "conversation" with Dory. And then there's Darla, the dentist's young niece reported to be a "fish killer" for torturing them whenever she is given a fish present. She arrives at the doorstep to the tune of Psycho.
I love to watch this movie again and again. This touchingly funny film transcends all generations. It is actually a feel good movie fit for Father's Day, but it's an incredible treat for the whole family.
Everyone is so fleshed out and more real than any real actors, and you have to hear their Australian accent! More importantly, coming from Pixar and Walt Disney as always, the movie has a heart---a BIG one.
I am sorry for not only rating this a five star plus, but also I have to make a rather brash statement that may offend the stars of this film: This is really fish soup for the soul, dudes! Like totally.
(June 18, 2003 issue)
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