Review of Finding Nemo (2003) by Sarah C — 22 Aug 2014

Pixar delivers excellent visuals, memorable characters and a film that anyone can enjoy once again with "Finding Nemo". The film follows two clownfish, Marlin (the voice of Albert Brooks) the overprotective father and Nemo (Alexander Gould), the son that feels smothered by his father. On Nemo's first day of school he tries to impress his friends by showing them he can swim well, despite his tiny right fin (a childhood injury) and gets captured by some humans. Marlin goes after the scuba divers but is unable to keep up with the boat. The only clue to Nemo's whereabouts is a scuba mask left behind. Marlin meets up with Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), a good-hearted regal blue tang with short-term memory loss that can read human and the two go on together. They will meet sharks, jellyfish, sea turtles, anglerfish and a slew of other creatures on their way to finding Marlin's son. Meanwhile, Nemo must find a way to escape the aquarium he has found himself in with the help of his new-found aquarium friends so that he can also find his way back to his father.

Although I don't want to understate how great the visuals of the film are, the most important part of this story are the characters. While Marlin starts off as a little bland, the kind overprotective father you see in a lot of stories, his character shows a tremendous amount of growth throughout the film. You can tell this guy has been scared and paranoid his whole life and barely wandered away from the coral reef he was living in. Now, as he swims through the ocean meeting all of the colourful characters in the film he discovers that there's more to the ocean than just his backyard. As for Dori, her defining characteristic is her absent-mindedness and at the beginning of the film, that's enough to make her interesting. She also grows throughout though so she isn't just a joke that's repeated over and over. You really get the sense that she and Marlin are growing as individuals and as a team. You grow to care about them not only as individuals, but as friends so you get a real sense of excitement every time they encounter a new friend or a new danger. If Marlin is the straight fish, she's the comedic one and the two actors have great comedic timing and some good chemistry too. You never think of them as actors pretending to be fish, they're just talking fish.

The titular character of the film is just as interesting as Dori and Marlin too. Nemo is the underdog, the kid with everything to prove. When he's placed in the aquarium by the scuba divers, he meets up with a whole bunch of fish and together they have to figure out a way to escape. Nemo is not just a plot device, he's a real character that you are cheering on all the way. Dori, Nemo or Marlin might be your favourite character in the film but it wouldn't surprise anyone if none of these made your top-five list. The reason I'm saying that is because the movie is filled to the brim with memorable characters. Here are some of my personal favorites: First the three sharks that Dori and Marlin encounter in an abandoned submarine. They have some really great lines and the sequences where they're on the screen is absolutely priceless. Some of the best voice acting comes from Barry Humphries as Bruce, the Great White Shark. To say anymore would ruin the surprise but you will always remember this trio. Another favourite, the sea turtles, voiced as if they were laid-back, surfer dudes just cruising the ocean without a care in the world. Once again, great memorable characters with excellent voice work and several great moments that will stick with you. Some of the other favourites include Geoffrey Rush as a pelican named Nigel. He befriends fish and is a fan of dentistry, There is Vicki Lewis as Deb, a fish who thinks her aquarium reflection is her twin sister, a flock of seagulls that have only a single line repeated over and over but are at once hilarious and threatening, Nemo's teacher (a spotted eagle ray voiced by Bob Peterson), a school of Moonfish that act as a single large entity and all speak in unison (voiced by John Ratzenberger) to name a few. Every one of these is completely unique, a real joy to see, and still just a few of the characters the film treats its audience to.

The huge crew of sea animals would have been enough to carry the movie but there's a whole other element to them that shouldn't be forgotten, it's the design of the fish and the animation. Water is a difficult element to animate but you won't be able to tell from this film. The fish seem to move effortlessly and completely realistically in this ocean that's been created by computer. The backgrounds are lush, the plant-life is colourful and varied, every creature is unique and mixes that right amount of human features to allow speech while keeping the original look of the sea animal kingdom. How good does the movie look? There is an option when you pop the Blu-ray into your player to have the menu without any of the actual menu options just so you can stare at it and get lost in all of the little details. Every frame of the film is gorgeous and even though it isn't the real ocean, it will make you crave a trip to the aquarium, if not to the coral reef just so you can see more of this stuff up close.

What's ingenious about the story is both what it contains and what it doesn't. I've already mentioned what's in here, with the characters, the drama of losing your only son and the spectacular animation but I want to also mention what isn't in the movie. There is not only no romantic sub plot but there's also really isn't a villain in the film. Sure there are some threats but the threats don't know that they are threats. The jellyfish for example, they're just going about their regular day, swimming around. They're not looking to be an obstacle to Marlin and Dori, the two of them just happen to swim by and get caught in up them. Same thing applies to the predatory fish they encounter. They just happen to bump into our characters and happen to be hungry. They don't go out of their way to stalk our heroes because they have no reason to. Most of the animals are actually quite reasonable once you get to know them, something that's both funny and ingenious because it feels genuine. Nobody wants to eat a lunch that talks back, that's just weird! The closest thing to a villain you could say you have in this story is a little girl who is very excited about getting a fish and threatens to take Nemo away from his new-found aquarium home. This is actually a stunning development because most stories have a villain. In this case, none was necessary because there are enough natural obstacles and sequences of action with the natural elements and inhabitants of the ocean Dori, Nemo and Marlin bump into that it would have felt completely artificial to have some kind of rival fish trying to prevent the heroes from getting back together.

"Finding Nemo" is an absolute treasure, a film whose appeal will last for as long as there are people to pop it into their Dvd player or implant it directly into their brain using 50th century technology. It can be enjoyed without shame by adults and children alike. It's smart, exciting, funny, gorgeous and memorable, what more could you want? (Blu-ray, July 20, 2013).