Overall Rating: Score: 9.2/10
Grade: A
Family-Friendliness Scale: Level 4 (Great)
Kids ages 6+
There are 3.7 trillion fish in the sea, two fish are looking to find one...
The story tells of Marlin (Albert Brooks), who loses his wife and most of their eggs in a barracuda attack. With one egg surviving, Marlin names the egg Nemo (his mother liked that name) and promises to not let anything happen to him. On the first day of school, Nemo is double-dared by new friends to touch a "butt" (mispronunciation for boat). In the process, Nemo is captured by a sea-diver and Marlin sets out to find him. Along the way, he meets a short term memory-loss fish named Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), three vegetarian sharks, pelicans, and sea turtles.
The animation is absolutely wonderful. The ocean and Sydney, Australia are brilliantly designed, and the characters move realistically in the water. The voice cast does an excellent job, with DeGeneres being the stand-out. She brings a huge amount of comedy and heart to the role of Dory, and she does an amazing job making the character come to life. Also standing out are then-young actor Alexander Gould as Nemo, Brooks, Brad Garrett and director Andrew Stanton as Crush the Sea Turtle.
One other thing that I was extremely pleased with was that it had an appreciable amount of the right kind of humor, and it also had enough excitement to keep me engaged. Thomas Newman delivers with the music score, with memorable music pieces throughout. The screenplay is impressively-written and to the point, despite the relatively simple concept. Great messages on family, growing up, unconditional love and true friendship abide, while over-protectiveness and disobedience are cautiously criticized.
Nemo was the first movie I ever saw at a theater and back then my sensitive ears couldn't take loudness and suspense. It was still a memorable experience for me, and even today almost 10 years later, I still very much love this endearing tale that has strong family values at the heart.
Beautiful animation, a cast of endearing, memorable characters, and an engaging story is what makes Finding Nemo a heartwarming and breathtaking ride that most moviegoers shouldn't miss. It's also what makes the movie one of my all-time favorites.
Should You Let Your Whole Family See It? Parents with little ones do need to know that there are some unexpected and jump-out-of-your seat moments and a few fearsome creatures in this deep, blue sea. Besides that, this G-rated movie is appropriate for ages 6 and up, and it gets a Level 4 on the Family-Friendliness Scale.
