Finding Nemo (2003)

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The surest bet in Hollywood these days is, hands down, the maddeningly entertaining CG family films made by Pixar Animation Studios. Their track record for churning out instant classics worthy of immediate repeated viewings is indisputable, bested only by their ability to make money hand-over-fist. Show me a kid - or an adult - who doesn't like A Bug's Life, Monsters, Inc., or the Toy Story films, and I'll show you a callous, impassive robot with rocks for brains and a gaping chasm where its heart is supposed to be.

Pixar's latest - Finding Nemo - is their first summer release, but it is in no way any less dazzling than its predecessors, other than being slightly more generic storywise. Heck, even if you call it generic, Nemo is still Buzz Lightyears better than 99% of the G-rated films rolled out over the last decade. And, as an added treat, Nemo is preceded by Pixar's 1989 Bobby McFerrin-scored short, Knick Knack, plus a trailer for Thanksgiving 2004's The Incredibles, which looks a little like Brian Michael Bendis's awe-inspiring comic book, Powers.

Nemo, which takes place mostly underwater, is about the father-son relationship between two clownfish. After a brief prologue that depicts a fairly traumatic shark attack (it's just the beginning - what else would you expect from a children's film that references Jaws, Psycho and The Shining?) that takes the lives of the wife and 399 soon-to-be-hatched eggs of Marlin (Albert Brooks), the story proper begins on the first day of school for the titular Nemo (Alexander Gould), who is the sole spawn to survive the assault. The now-agoraphobic Marlin is understandably cautious about letting go of his only child for the first time, especially since Nemo has a gimpy fin.

Much to the dismay of Marlin, Nemo's teacher takes his class to the reef's drop-off and, while following carefully behind, Marlin is horrified to see Nemo and some friends daring each other to swim over the edge. Words are said, feelings are hurt and, long story short, Nemo gets scooped up by a diver and crammed into a fish tank owned by a Sydney dentist (after a quick dig at Americans - see, it's not just Dogville).

The rest of the story unfolds in two parts: The suddenly courageous Marlin teams up with a lunatic fish suffering from attention deficit disorder (a drop-dead hysterical Ellen DeGeneres) to track down his boy, and Nemo attempts to escape the tank before he becomes the birthday present to the dentist's fish-killing niece. The tale is very reminiscent of Toy Story, where Buzz and the other toys are trying to find and rescue Woody, who is about to be quartered by demon child Sid.

Nemo is written and directed by Andrew Stanton, the co-director of A Bug's Life and a scribe on every one of Pixar's feature films (and the SoCal voice of current-surfing sea turtle Crush here). He fills this picture with breathtaking color and unbelievably real-looking animation. Even for a Pixar film, Nemo sets a new standard for terrifying (literally) highs and lows so devastating they'll make you tear up. Nemo creates a very high benchmark for this summer's other films to strive to best, and I don't think any of them will.

1:41 - G

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