Shark Tale (2004)

"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.

For more Reeling reviews visit www.reelingreviews.com

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X-RT-RatingText: C