"Shark Tale"
Oscar (voice of Will Smith) is a cleaner wrasse
working at the reef whale wash. He is tired of being a
nobody and dreams of a life atop the reef where he can
be "somebody." Lenny (voice of Jack Black) is a Great
White Shark with a terrible secret – he's a
vegetarian. When a tragic accident kills Lenny's
brother Frankie, Oscar takes credit for the act,
earning the title "sharkslayer." But, fame has its
costs and the two very different fish must form an
alliance to survive in "Shark Tale."
DreamWorks Pictures, on the heels of its amazingly
successful "Shrek" franchise, is hoping to score with
fans of the big green lug while capitalizing on the
wonderful anthropomorphizing of the undersea world
creatures in "Finding Nemo." Directors Vicky Jenson,
Bibo Bergeron and Rob Letterman tell the story (by
Letterman and Michael J. Wilson) of a little fish with
big aspirations as Oscar toils away his days as the
head tongue scraper at Sykes's (voice of Martin
Scorsese) Whale Wash but dreams of living the
glamorous, wealthy life. When an opportune accident
gives Oscar the chance to tell a little white lie that
will get him big things, he thinks he is finally on
Easy Street.
Lenny, the youngest son of Don Lino (voice of Robert
De Niro), doesn't want to take over the family
"business" as the co-head of the shark mob with
Frankie. He is a true "fishitarian" who has eschewed
the fish-eating life to become a vegetarian. When
Frankie takes him out to show Lenny how to act as a
killer, they cross paths with Oscar. The sensitive
shark can't bear the thought of eating Oscar but
Frankie has no such qualms and races forward to make
the frightened little wrasse into a snack. Then, wham!
An anchor lands right on Frankie's head. While Oscar
basks in the fame of his lie over Frankie's demise,
Lenny must come up with a plan to fit into the bustle
of the reef and avoid his father.
The idea of spoofing Mafia mob movies with the
humanized under water world characters may be a good
one but here, in "Shark Tale," it does not fare so
well. Sure, there are a collection of colorful
characters drawn to resemble the actors giving them
voice. Cleverly, you get to see the familiar mole on
Don Lino's face, the notable ears on Oscar and full
lips of Lola (Angelina Jolie). This physical
characterization carries through to Angie the
angelfish (voice of Renee Zellwegger) and the
accentuated eyebrows of Sykes (Scorsese). It's very
amusing to watch but it is not sufficient to sustain
the film. (The Rastafarian characters of Bernie and
Ernie (Doug E. Doug and Ziggy Marley), as Sykes's
electric-shocking, dreadlocked jellyfish bodyguards
are pretty an entertaining duo, though.)
This maritime gangster film doesn't have a strong
enough story to keep the interest level much above
that of older kids. There is a great deal of fast
talking banter and wise ass remarks as Oscar bluffs
his way through life searching for the thing that has
been around him all of the time. When you meet Angie
and see her adoration and love for Oscar you know what
the outcome will be, even when he is tempted by the
wily, gold-digging charms of Lola, a lionfish with a
little dragon fish mixed in. The morals of Oscar's
story are, basically, to look in your own yard for
what you want most and be tolerant of your neighbors.
It just took a predictable 90 minutes to get there.
While I had few problems with the vocal talents, I
found Will Smith's voicing of Oscar to be annoying
after a while. There were no standout single
performances as we saw in "Shrek," "Monsters, Inc." or
"Finding Nemo" (which I think was robbed of an Oscar ®
nom for best supporting actress by Ellen Degeneres),
which is a surprise considering the actors involved.
This, too, may be a fault of the writing, as the
characters, once presented, do not change throughout
the film. Even Oscar, though positively redirected, is
still the same smart-ass wrasse in the end.
There is plenty for the kids to watch that will keep
them entertained for the duration of "Shark Tale" but
not nearly enough to keep any but the the less
discerning adults amused. Product placement with such
brands as "Coral Cola," "The Gup," "Kelpy Kremes,"
"Preparation O" and "Fish King" is far overdone and
not that all that clever. (Guys, get an original
thought.) I had hopes going into the film and came out
with them unrealized. And, that's too bad. I give it a
C.
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