Review of Finding Nemo (2003) by Matthew O — 27 Jun 2016

As far as I can remember, FINDING NEMO was the first movie I ever saw in theaters. I was four years old when it came out and I distinctly remember seeing it for the first time. The movie had quickly become a cultural phenomenon with critics and audiences praising it like mad. Me and everyone I knew loved this movie. I remember I used to recite the lines with friends all the time. I would point out every time I see a fish associated with a particular character.

So as you may have guessed, FINDING NEMO had a big impact on my childhood. The more times I watch it, the more I appreciate it. The movie has some of the most memorable and entertaining characters of all time, it's premise is very relatable, the comedy is ingenious, the drama is enthralling, the adventure is a lot of fun, and the animation looks absolutely BEAUTIFUL. That's probably the best aspect of the film, the underwater effects look astonishingly realistic! It really makes you feel how huge and mysterious the underwater really is with our main characters coming across all sorts of different obstacles: sharks, schools of fish, jellyfish, sea turtles, a whale, etc. And what really makes it all come together is Thomas Newman's amazing score, which may be my favorite Pixar soundtrack. The themes and the instrumentation really makes it sound like you're in the ocean.

But it's not just the animation and the music that makes the film so great, all the characters are wonderful as well, and fairly identifiable. Marlin is very over-protective with his son, which many parents can relate to that. And Nemo, naturally, gets irritated with his father's attitude quite often, like a lot of kids do. But it's completely understandable why Marlin is overly protective with Nemo. Just watch that heart-breaking opening, he lost his wife and almost all of his offspring, and was lucky enough for him to be left with just one. Of course he's going to do anything to protect his only child. But it leads to a great message mostly towards adults actually (particularly parents) that you shouldn't always be overly protective and anxious about your child's safety, and that your child may know better than you might think.

But for me, Ellen DeGeneres as Dory steals the entire show. Her character was so well written and Ellen's performance was so entertaining that it made her one of the most memorable animated characters... ever! And it's not made just for laughs with her fun gimmick of having short-term memory loss, it also makes her a very compelling character. She tells us that this trait she has runs in her family, but can't exactly remember, and it makes us want to know more about her. It also gives the character an arc as she ventures along with Marlin. Since Dory has been on a journey with Marlin for so long and begins to remember things better, she believes she can remember better if she's with him. And it makes that scene where Marlin leaves Dory much more powerful.

The tone of the film is perfectly balanced, containing many dark and scary moments mixed with a lot of funny and heart-warming moments. It gets pretty suspenseful in scenes with the sharks, the anglerfish, the jellyfish, and the whale, which some kids may find quite horrifying when they first see it. I know I did, I was almost traumatized! But it makes all the happy moments much more endearing with the sea turtles, the school of fish, the tank gang, and the gimmick with Dory's forgetfulness.

It's really hard to find any negatives with the film. The only thing I can think of is that maybe the film's message can get a little too preachy. We know what the lesson is going to be right from the beginning, and it gets kind of tedious as they keep hammering it in. But really, a lot of Pixar films are like that. Other than that, the film's virtually flawless. The story is wonderful, the characters are wonderful, the comedy really works, the drama really works, the animation is beautiful, the music is beautiful... What else do I need to say? This movie is awesome! Let's just hope the sequel is good.

Grade: A+.