Shark Tale [2004]

Amazon.co.uk Review

When a shark accidentally clobbers himself, a small fish named Oscar (voiced by Will Smith, I, Robot) just happens to be around, prompting everyone to believe that he killed the shark himself. This lie soon makes Oscar a celebrity, worshipped by the general mass of fish, wooed by a glittering golddigger (Angelina Jolie, Girl, Interrupted), missed by his best friend (Renee Zellweger, Cold Mountain)--and hunted by the godfather of great whites (Robert De Niro, Goodfellas). Can a vegetarian shark named Lenny (Jack Black, School of Rock) get Oscar out of this mess? The formulaic story of Shark Tale never reaches the giddy heights of Pixar's output (Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc., Toy Story) or the freewheeling comedy of Shrek, but it's capably told and impeccably animated--the sheer technical skill is stunning. Kids won't get the mobster jokes or the other pop-culture references, but they'll enjoy it nonetheless. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews:

I had a whale of a time!.......2007-10-21

I was worried this might be aimed more at the very young than some recent animation films but I can say this has something for everyone, no matter their age! With an all star voice cast that includes Will Smith, Robert De Niro, Angelina Jolie amongst many other well known actors, there is plenty of talent to be heard. It's very good how they manage to include characteristics of the actors in their animated characters. Oscar is clearly Will Smith just by looking at the face!The animation is great, with strong bright colours and plenty of detail. The sound track is very strong to with Chrisitina Aguilera's Car Wash the main theme song.
For the youngsters there are plenty of funny scenes, and characters. For the older generation their are some great in jokes as De Niro's Great White Shark has a Godfather like role! If you liked Finding Nemo, Flushed Away, Toy Story you will have a Whale of a time here to! The disc also has plenty of little extras and features to keep you busy as well.

A FUN FUNNY FILM TO BE ENJOYED BY PEOPLE OF ALL AGES.......2007-08-18

Shark Tale doesn't live up to it's full hype, but it guarantees entertainment

Plot: Oscar (Will Smith) is a fish who dreams of moving to the top of the ocean and leaving everything behind. This happens when in an accident a shark is killed and Oscar claims he killed it. Soon he has fame, fortune, and a girlfriend (Angelina Jolie) much to the objection of Angie (Renee Zellweger) who secretly has a crush on Oscar. He has a manager (Martin Scorsese) and has moved onto bigger and better things. When he runs into the shark's brother that he killed (Jack Black) they strike a friendship and Oscar tells him what really happened. The father Don Lino (Robert De Niro) still believes Oscar killed his son and sets out to find him. Things become more complicated when Angie finds out the truth.

The Good News: The beginning starts out really promising with a look at life in the ocean. The music is really upbeat and modern all the way through. The animation is outstanding and spectacular. When Skye puffs up and squeaks in his little voice it is hilarious and you couldn't find another voice actor to do it better. Besides Will Smith the all star voice cast is all around great and superb. The characters are all well drawn out and you like them. My favorite character had to be Lenny by a mile. The story was pretty original and entertaining. The direction is good and nothing life changing. The sit down scene is a major standout and everything following that leading into the ending is action packed with some new ideas. The character interactions are all nice and they move like real people with fins. It was nice to see some everyday things parodied like the sign advertising Coral Cola (Coke a Cola) and "O" Mints (Thin Mints of Tic Tacs).

The Bad News: Will Smith's voice for Oscar doesn't really fit the character and is really a major distraction. Some of the characters could have been thrown out for their uselessness. The jokes are pretty bad and only a couple of them work which is major foul on the film and maybe it's just my VHS player or video, but there is a large amount of grain. The secondary characters here to provide most of the jokes are downright unlikeable. This film also contains the overly clichéd montage when the main character is feeling down or sad and then the problem is solved which follows into another montage.

Conclusion: Doesn't deserve all its hype, but provides decent entertainment. If you happen to stumble across it on T.V. or at the video store go ahead and watch it if there is nothing else, but I wouldn't recommend buying it. Really hard to say on this one.

Actually very good!.......2007-04-13

Give it a second bite.......2006-09-09

When I took my children then 7 and 10 to see this neither they nor I were particularly impressed and it had considerably less impact than many other films of similar genre probably due to the rather thin plot line
However on revisiting the DVD it was infinitely better and the characters'nuances/one liners could be appreciated far more eg the Rastafarian jellyfish. I suspect that given the success of similar films,immediate expectations are always high and disappointment is often inevitable. This film is definitely worth revisiting

Sinks without a trace..........2006-03-14

Filling a movie with flashy visuals, pop culture references and enough celebrities to fill Oscar night, does not a good film make, as Shark Tale so admirably proves.

Vocal talents from the excellent cast include Will Smith, Angelina Jolie and Robert DeNiro, but they aren't given the characters to match their talent.

It's matched to a pathetic storyline that on the whole, doesn't really work. A small fish (voiced by Smith) accidentally defeats a shark, and then becomes the legendary Sharkslayer. Big cheese shark (vocied by DeNiro) then wants to get payback on Sharkslayer for killing his son. Yawn.

Still, it's not exactly dull - as the story fairly zips by, and apart from some well-meaning but film stopping musical numbers which are groan inducing, the film has quite a bit of energy behind it.

I think the underwater gangster style of the film will go over most children's heads, and its not filled with slapstick humour either, so small kids won't really laugh. The bright, flashy visuals might keep them entertained. For adults, there's even less to enjoy as we are bombarded by film references and pop culture jokes. So many of them that it just gets tiresome, and unfunny.

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