Review of Shark Tale (2004) by Kristy P — 06 Apr 2010

When I went to go see this movie, I thought I would be amazed. Shrek was a really good movie, and Shrek 2 was even better for me, so I had high hopes for this movie. When I walked out of the cinema, though, my smile had diappeared.

Shark Tale was hardly enjoyable in my tastes. There were a few parts where I chuckled slightly, but the rest seemed very dull with no charm. This movie is filled with pop culture jokes that only higher aged people will be able to get. Shark Tale would really make no sense to a younger kid.

The story also had no charm about it that you would really love. In Finding Nemo, a similar movie, the charm was that a father and son have a sort of bad relationship in the beginning of the movie due to the father's over-protective nature, then when the son gets kidnapped and the father has to travel thousands of miles to find him and they finally reunite, their relationship starts to rebuild and the father learns to stop being so protective. That could really tug at your heart strings. But in Shark Tale, only a few faint tugs can be heard. The storyline in Finding Nemo is enough to make a person get teary eyes and (possibly?) cry, but the storyline in Shark Tale is so over-filled with pop culture parodies that much of the real supposed charm that Dreamworks was trying to go for is blurred.

Another problem with the story line is that it would be hard to follow for kids. Younger kids won't be able to understand the gold-digger effect around Lola and how it's damaging the friendship between Oscar and Angie. They also won't get the pop-culture jokes, like I said earlier, because little kids really like a movie that's sweet, filled with jokes that they find funny, and easy to follow. I know, because I have the mind of a little kid. I don't really see how Shark Tale is aimed at the younger audience when the elements in it are meant for the older ages. An example is when Oscar is trying to do some hand-slap with Sykes, and then explains to him "Hey, don't sweat it. A lot of white fish can't do it." This is giving the sterotype of whites and blacks in this world and putting it in the movie. Younger minds don't get it because they very most likely don't understand the sterotypes of races in this world. How are kids supposed to know what he means by "white fish"?

As for the other jokes, some of them were so stupidly dull that they were more of a disappointed frown than smiling laugh.

I guess I can't look at all the negative things. As mean as I might be sounding towards Shark Tale, there were some things I really did like. I like how they portrayed the coral reef as a big city. It was very colorful and lively, and could even amaze some people. And I had mentioned earlier that some of jokes, as pop as they may be, did make me laugh a bit. But of course, I got them because I was older and have a more mature mind. Little kids...not so much.

So, in conclusion? Don't expect much from this movie. You're better off watching other underwater themed kid movies such as "Finding Nemo" or the maybe "The Little Mermiad" series.

Sorry if this review sucked, I'm horrible at reviews.

-lovedove-.