“”Finding Nemo”” tells the story of Marlin, a clown fish, who just doesn’t seem to have any luck. At the beginning of the film, Marlin loses his wife and all of his children, save one survivor: Nemo. After Nemo gets “”fish-napped”” by scuba divers, Marlin goes on a hunt to find him, assisted by Dory, a blue tang fish. Meanwhile, Nemo ends up stuck in a fish tank at a dentist’s office with a group of fish who are also desperately trying to escape.
This film, the latest from Disney and Pixar, goes above and beyond the animation of their previous films. The animation is stunning, and the film’s attention to detail is brilliant. Scenes in the film look so real that it’s hard to tell that they’re computer-animated. And even though the film is set almost entirely underwater, the animators are still able to make each locale diverse and beautiful in its own way.
The characters are also animated magnificently. Besides the fact that they are incredibly realistic (aside from the fact that they talk), a lot of emotion is articulated through their facial expressions: everything from sorrow to happiness.
The script also shines, especially with the way the characters behave. One hilarious gag comes from the fish in a tank at the dentist’s office, who are obsessed with cleanliness, almost to the point of an obsessive compulsive disorder. For example, when Nemo first gets put into the tank, the first thing the other fish do is have him “”cleaned.””
Another hilarious gag comes from Bruce, a great white shark (named for the shark in “”Jaws””), and his two fellow sharks who have formed a sort of Fishaholics Anonymous group and are trying desperately to break their fish-eating habits.
The characters are what truly make this film memorable. In particular, Ellen DeGeneres, the voice of Dory, is exceptional in her role as the schizophrenic fish with a short-term memory; it almost seems as if she drew from her experience with ex-girlfriend Anne Heche. The sea turtle, Crush (voiced by director Andrew Stanton) and his children are also hilarious, fitting the mold of the typical “”surfer dude.”” Willem Dafoe is also brilliant as Gill, the brain of the fish tank, who comes up with plan after plan to get the group back to freedom. And, of course, the title character of Nemo (voiced by Alexander Gould) will become a favorite.
Overall, “”Finding Nemo”” is set to be another Disney/Pixar classic, proving yet again that with great talent, anything can be achieved. This film is definitely worth seeing, though beware: There will surely be lots of children at any daytime screening.
Finding Nemo
****
Starring Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres and Willem Dafoe
In theaters May 30
Rated G
