Shark Tale (PG)

Shark Tale - The movie is hilarious and you can't help but laugh at it even though you keep thinking, been there, done that if you've seen Finding Nemo. I wouldn't recommend kids that are too young to see it, maybe a range of 8 and up. I say that because of the gangster-like things that are said and done in the movie and some parents don't want their kids to see that. Then there is the plot. The plot was good, but I doubt that a small child could follow it or laugh at it at least.

But, if you need a laugh, I strongly recommend Shark Tale to you!

Shark Tale is a cross between Finding Nemo and a gangster film, like Goodfellas. Whilst Shark Tale may not be an instant classic like Nemo [because Nemo was the one that started it all!] I loved it anyway. Shark Tale is very funny and the voices were great, especially the one and only Will Smith's one liners. The fish even looked like him, right down to his ears!

I cannot just recommend this film to kids, as Shark Tale, like all the other Pixar, and Dreamwork 3D films, are all aimed at adults too, so there's something for everyone.

I recommend you see it if you like all those 3D films, if not, then obviously, stay well clear of this one, because you won't like it. A great film to see when you want to be entertained and lightened up.

Shark Tale - DreamWorks continue their reign of animated supremacy with Shark Tale, a fishy tale that tells the story of Oscar (Will Smith) and his hopes to hit it big one day back-firing on him.

Another great DreamWorks film though it could use some tweaking!

Shark Tale is pretty much what you get if you cross Finding Nemo with the Sopranos, cute fish and gangsters a winning combo if ever there was one surely. I think a lot of the jokes in the film will be way over the top of most kids' heads with quotes from the likes of 'Scarface' and 'A Few Good Men.'I also enjoyed the weird little lobster creature watching the Benny Hill Show. Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese bring the gangster acting past and the likes of Will Smith and Jack Black bring the humour. It is a funny film and is certainly better than Shrek and probably on a par with Nemo. One small complaint was that Oscar, the fish played by Will Smith, looked too much like him. It could have been a bit more fishy, but that's just me trying to find bad points. I went late in the evening so there weren't too many kids about which I think was probably wise.

Shark Tale is doubtlessly going to be endlessly compared to Pixar's "Finding Nemo". It is unfortunate that Shark Tale comes out the lesser of the two movies, but truly comparing the two is generally a fruitless exercise.

Opening with a detailed dive into the city of the fish, Shark Tale presents a world of sight gags and moderate puns. From the starfish walk of fame through the dolphin police, through to the shots of "the top of the reef", the sequence is a bustling hive of activity. At this point I would make one valid comparison with Nemo - the graphics. Shark Tale fails to really seem as if anything is happening underwater. Yes, there are fish in the shot and yes everything intellectually should be under the sea, but where Nemo oozed and flowed in a very fluid vista, Shark Tale shows colour and spectacle, but without that organic ocean feeling. This is not to say Shark Tale's graphic work is bad, simply that it does not feel waterbourne.

With that aside, the cartoon images in Shark Tale are well-presented, with the anthropomorphic fish taking on the facial characteristics of their voice actors. Never has (or will) a fish ever look more like Will Smith, or acted like him. This is Will Smith in full Fresh Prince, wise-cracking mode made piscine in Oscar. Renee Zellwegger is instantly recognisable in her fish counterpart Angie, as is the vampy Angela Jolie (Lola).

The story itself revolves around Oscar's passage from an unhappy, dreaming nobody to a famous, unhappy somebody to a happy nobody. It's a generic, oft-repeated tale, albeit set in a world full of mafioso sharks, vengeful shrimp, and whales with poor personal hygiene.

As such, the story itself is both predictable and can be safely ignored. You can feel each step of the way long before it hits the screen. It has no surprises, and so the movie resorts to banter and set pieces to amuse.

It doesn't often succeed with these. Of the set pieces, the shark funeral is by far the best part of the movie. It is hilarious and somehow moving at the same time. Lenny (Jack Black) and Don Lino (Robert De Niro) make an amusing scene in a restaurant debating with the food. The remainder, including Oscar's big fight scene, are generally uninvolving unless you have an interest in keeping an ear and eye out for the multitude of pop references - many of which are simply thrown in for no reason other than that somebody thought they should be there. Oscar's non sequiturs at the end of the great shark fight are particularly pointless and unfunny.

Some in-jokes and references do work - having Ziggy Marley solemnly tell Oscar (Smith) that he's singing reggae wrong is clever. Some gags also work - the pizza-ordering Octopus is a gem.

But despite playing heavily on racial stereotypes, the movie as a whole feels rather bland - as if it was designed by marketers and a committee rather than by people who had a funny tale they wanted to tell.

The actors supplying the voices vary in effectiveness. Will Smith is effectively Will Smith, love it or hate it. Zellwegger gives a decent, if shallow, performance as the love interest, and Jolie's Lola is barely on screen long enough for her to make an impact. De Niro makes the movie as Don Lino, shark godfather, and without his presence it would be fair to say that the movie would simply be too weak to sustain interest.

The music is very MTV, and the end song sequence is atrocious - though kids will probably love it, parents should bring ear plugs for the time when Oscar releases "Missy and Christina" until you leave the cinema.

Shark Tale offers an amusing hour and a half for the children but a rather predictable time and only occasionally amusing time for adults. It lacks the magic, sparkle, and dare I say bite, that was so desperately needed.

Six starfish out of a possible 10.