Fish story

“Finding Nemo” is a first class family film that combines topnotch computer animation with ample creative wit. Judging by the popularity of their last five films, Pixar Animation Studios is arguably the most reliable creative force in Hollywood. No one has had a string of hits like this since pop star Phil Collins’ reign of fury throughout the 1980’s. Although the idea of people working on computers is far less romantic than the original Disney artists of the 1930’s who painfully hunched over their desks with pen in hand for years, one would have to admit that Pixar’s filmmaking springs from the minds and hearts of gifted storytellers. No computer could create such lively characters as Buzz Lightyear and Woody; Mike Wazowski and Sully; and now, Marlin and Nemo. For a kid’s movie, “Nemo” gets off to an extremely violent start. A pair of clown fish, Marlin (voiced by Albert Brooks), and his wife have just moved into their new home on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, along with their 400 about-to-be-hatched children. A shark immediately comes along and massacres everyone except for little Nemo (Alexander Gould). Years later, as a result of his fiercely overprotective dad, Nemo has an overdeveloped sense of curiosity. The rebellious Nemo’s demonstration of his swimming prowess leads him into a diver’s net and, ultimately, a Sydney dentist’s aquarium. The distraught Marlin immediately sets out to rescue him and enlists the aid of Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), an easily distracted blue tang with a “Memento” like short-term memory loss. (Unfortunately for us she does not take Polaroids or notes). Their quest to find Nemo leads them to encounter everything from poisonous jellyfish, sunken subs, slacker sea turtles, a trio of sharks, and hungry seagulls, to a giant blue whale. What really saves the film is the contrast that is created by transporting Nemo out of the sea and into the tank of the Sydney Dentist. In it we meet other eccentric captives, including the Moorish Idol fish Gill (voice by Willem Dafoe), who masterminds an elaborate plan of escape with the aid of a pelican (voice by Geoffrey Rush). “Nemo” erupts with sea creatures that showcase Pixar’s gift for character and peerless eye for spoofing contemporary culture. The small touches, such as the Dentist’s daughter who looks like a female Chucky with headgear and the greedy, moronic seagulls who ask just one question, over and over: “Mine? Mine?” when potential food is spotted, take the film to the next level. We must give mad props to the artists who have filled the screen with bright, highly detailed seascapes that rival the real life wonders of the sea. Their most spectacular achievement has to be the way they capture a fish’s swaying motions. “Nemo” really convinces us we’re underwater. The film is undeniable evidence of the improvement of computer animation. Unlike “Gladiator” or “The Phantom Menace,” I was never distracted from the story or upset with how things looked fake. Though “Nemo” deals with the issues of overprotective parents and under-trusted offspring, the whole theme verges on being forced. Marlin’s nonstop, Woody Allen-like hysteria is so initially irritating that even the talented Brooks can’t completely salvage the situation.  Similar to Marlin, DeGeneres’s Dory is playful and amusing for awhile, but by the end becomes more and more annoying, answering the question once and for all whether her sitcom was canceled because she came out of the closet or because it was just really, really unfunny. ALL THINGS CONSIDERED: “Finding Nemo” reeks of professionalism and is a great all-around production. A visually stunning film with enough creativity that anyone could enjoy. B+