 FINDING NEMO
MPAA Rating:
 for General Audiences. Reviewed by: Megan Basham CONTRIBUTOR
Starring: Alexander Gould, Erica Beck, Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Geoffrey Rush | Directed by: Andrew Stanton | Produced by: Graham Walters | Written by: Andrew Stanton | Distributor: Walt Disney/Pixar 
Seventy-one percent of the earth is covered in water. 3.7 trillion fish live in that water. As our story opens, one of them gets lost... Marlin Clownfish (Albert Brooks) and his wife Coral (Elizabeth Perkins) are living the great fishy dream: They have a house in an upscale barrier reef, a beautiful view of the expanding sea, and 400.5 little fishlings on the way. Life seems perfect. That is until a hungry barracuda wipes out Marlin's entire family, leaving him desolate, alone, and single parent to one surviving little egg, Nemo. The tragedy takes its toll on Marlin, and his vow to "never let anything happen to Nemo" causes him to become a neurotic and overprotective, if well intentioned, father. In his desire to shield Nemo, he even tries to keep his son from starting school and embarrasses him in front of all the other slimy little ones of the sea. Naturally, Nemo resents this suffocating love, and in an act of defiance, swims out beyond the safety of the reef and gets scooped up by a scuba diver's waiting net. 
Devastated by yet another loss, Marlin resolves to do whatever it takes to track down the boat speeding away with his son. And so to aid him on his mission (or at least to keep him company), he teams up with Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), a dingy, ADD-afflicted blue tang with a cheerful demeanor and major short-term memory problem. Their quest isn't easy...Not only do they encounter poisonous jellyfish, sunken subs, and World War II mines, they also run into the local chapter of Sharks Anonymous, a support group whose mantra is "Fish are friends, not food." This might be fine, except it seems the twelve-steppers have a tendency to fall off the wagon... Like other Pixar releases before it, Finding Nemo is a visually breathtaking film. In fact, with its ethereal scenes of dreamlike floating jelly-fish and murky, sleepy-eyed whales, it actually outpaces it predecessors. But outstanding as the aquatic graphics are, it isn't the watery backdrop that sets this film apart from the rest of the kiddie fare--rather, it's the hilarious dialogue and family-friendly story line. 
Finding Nemo features several principles that would make for great discussion between parents and kids. For one thing, while it's true that Marlin was being unfair, by disobeying him, Nemo put himself in harm's way and landed in a dentist's fish tank. Had he listened to his father, he could have avoided a lot of pain. Conversely, though the story is simple, parents get a reminder that there is such a thing as too much involvement in their children's lives--at some point you have to let them sink or swim. Finally, as Marlin risks fin and scale for the love of his son, you might draw a parallel for your children of all that God risked because of His love for us. This is not to say that Finding Nemo is weighed down by a lot of heavy-handed morals. Actually, DeGeneres and her fellow comedic cold-bloods are such a riot, you might even miss them. From surfer-dude turtles to Hitchcockian seagulls, there's plenty of jokes only older ticket-holders will get. And though they might go kicking and screaming, my bet is that teenagers will enjoy it as well (just don't ask them to admit it!). As summer movies go, this one's packed to the gills with family fun! Year of Release—2003 
Positive - I took my two children to see this film and we all enjoyed it very much. I could not find anything wrong with it. It was very funny and had a great story line. I thought that it sent out a positive message to children and parents. It taught children the importance of obeying their parents and the consequences when they didn't and it gave a good lesson to parents, (smothering children can sometimes drive them to do the very opposite of what they're told to do). Positive — This movie has everything. The best digital animations to date, the story is classic yet introspective with a grand parental charm and wit coupled with brave and ingenious relationships, genuine heart-felt characters and a clean sweeping pace to the story. It was a tremendous 2 hours of movie magic at its very best. I can't wait for the DVD--we will buy it and cherish it for years, just as we have Bug's Life, Toys Story and Monsters Inc. This is a new level though, the water surface is incredible and real looking. New, fresh look and feel for Pixar and Disney. My three year old and my 11 year old as my wife and I loved this film! Positive — This is a good family movie for all ages. The techincal aspects of the movie are well done, and there are many parts that are funny and enjoyable for both kids and adults. The son learns that he should have heeded his father's warnings about danger. The father learns that love overcomes fear and that he couldn't protect his son from everything in life. There are also good lessons about friendship and working together as a team. Our whole family enjoyed it--parents in our 40's and 9 year-old daughter. Positive — An excellent whole-family film. Very young ones (six and under) may be upset by events early in the film, but even they will be captured by the uplifting, often humorous, events and characters that follow. Overcoming is a central theme of our faith and of this movie, done in one of the most creative ways I have ever seen. Technically and creatively excellent. Go see it! Neutral — Plusses in this movie definitely included high visual appeal and child-like humor using easy-to-understand terminology. I was distracted by the too often action changes: Absolutely frantic and having to strain to understand character dialogue, followed by slow and heartfelt conversation that I felt I had been set up to receive without question. I was impressed that the movie contained ambiguous underlying moral messages, but it also contained more sustained violence (e.g., shark scene, pandemonium in the dentist's office)than was appropriate for young children. Too many attempts at "bathroom" humor throughout, and the scene in the water treatment plant wherein the crabs were feeding on seeping waste and sewage from the pipe, calling it "manna from heaven", I found to be extremely offensive. Nemo's disobedience was regarded as honorable in that its end (his heroic action to rescue Dory) was the justification for having earlier rebelled against his parent. Positive — We took the whole family (including 2 teens) and all of us had a
great time. This is Pixar's best in our opinion. The story was
outstanding, the graphics breathtaking, and the dialog was hilarious.
Just a great family film that I would recommend without reservation. Positive — This is a terrific movie. I saw it with two teenagers, an 11 year
old, two senior citizens, and we are 40, and we all agreed that it
was well written and very funny. It shows beautiful ocean scenery and
realistic sea life. The story line shows the importance of family and of
raising children in a loving, responsible, but not fearfully
overprotective way. There was no bad language. The only scary parts for
very young children would be at the beginning when baracuda eat the mom
fish and most of her eggs (not shown), and when the sharks first come on
scene--but they quickly become a comedy group. Positive — This is a great all around movie! It has something for everyone.
The plot is simple enough for children to follow, but deep enough for
adults to enjoy. The animation is everyting you have come to expect from
Pixar and more. Best of all, there is NOTHING that makes you say, "It was
great, except for that one part…" I wish more movies were like this
one! Positive — I thought the film was hilarious, as did my 14-year-old daughter.
My 16-year-old also thought it was great. We laughed so hard we may have
distracted others in the theater! I recommend the film whole-heartedly. Neutral — There were alot of cute things in this movie and alot of funny
things that adults can laugh at, but my four year old was scared by
a lot of the scenes. The shark chasing the fish was too intense for him
and the fish Marlin and Dorey ran into in the dark was terrifying. The
little girl was also very scary looking...my son said she "looked
bad." I also questioned the "ritual" that Nemo had to go through in the tank
to be "inducted." It reminded me of a tribal ritual that people must
go through the fire as they worship their gods. Positive — One of the best films I've ever seen! I was plesantly surprised by
this film. The graphics were breathtaking-I felt as if I was scuba diving
undersea with the characters. Each characters is unique in its own way:
Dory with her hilarious remarks that will literally keep you laughing out
loud, Marlin with his fatherly traits, Nemo with his enthusiastic attitude
of a young child, the laid-back and groovy sea-turtle, etc. The movie
does a great job of teaching the value of obedience to little kids
although some scenes (such as the sudden shark attacks) might scare little
ones. The writers did a superb job of writing a script that the whole
family can laugh at-even the ending had me amazed by the writers'
creativity and wit. I highly recommend this one! Positive — We definitely enjoyed it but there are times when it is too scary for
younger viewers (6 and under). Positive — Wow! I saw it with my boyfriend, and we loved it! We would totally reccomended it for couples, parents, single parents, children, teenagers... just everyone. You cannot leave this movie, learning something new about FAITH in you and your family... or a reminder about love. I was really impressed. PIXAR seems to be on our side... but we'll see. I say see it, buy it, RATE it, and just LOVE it...I know I did. Comments from young people
Positive — I LOVED it! It was cute and hilarious! I think the morals are
good, too. It's my favorite movie! It's definitely a must-see! Positive — I went to see this movie with about 20 people from my church. It turned out to be a great movie. It was clean and fun. It kept me laughing most of the time. Even though some parts were just a tad corny, it really was a good movie. Positive — I have already seen this movie twice and I already LOVE IT! and
can quote most of the lines from the movie. I would say it is my favorite
movie because it was clean and there wasn't much if anything that was
objectionable. But there is one thing I would say. I am planning on being
a kindergarten teacher and I am pretty sure there would be parts in this
movie that would scare a child of that age. They did a good job at taking
away a lot of the surprise fear but there were some parts where I found
myself leaning back in my seat and wincing a little bit. It was a movie
for all ages in the family and I'm sure everyone will enjoy it! Positive — I thought Finding Nemo was a fun movie with lots of action. I wouldn't recommend it to very small children, (2 or 3 year olds..) because there are quite a few scary scenes. But other than that, I loved the movie! What was realy good about it was that it kept you on the edge of your seat! There wasn't any bad language that I remember, and and Dory was hilarious! And the movie sort-of showed that if you disobey your parents, you can get in some sticky situations. Positive - “Finding Nemo” was so cute, I loved it. |
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