Finding Nemo (2003)
Cast: Albert Brookes, Alexander Gould,Willem Dafoe, Eric Bana, Elllen DeGeneres
Director: Andrew Stanton
Synopsis: Pixar/Disney in top form in this fab tale of a father fish looking for his lost son.
Reviewed by: Ali Khan

The film follows the journey of Marlin – a clown fish – as he attempts to rescue his son Nemo - who is unexpectedly captured by humans and thrust into a fish tank in a dentist's office overlooking Sydney harbour. En route Marlin is joined in his quest by a fish named Dory, who herself suffers from short term memory loss. As the two fishes go about their quest they meet a host of weird and wonderful characters.

Finding Nemo is a stunning film and a welcome return to top form for Pixar and Disney after the disappointing Monsters Inc. At the level of animation the film is awash with the most amazing colours and textures and as the various fish drift by you can simply take in this incredibly beautiful film. But there is more to Nemo than simply the way it looks. The story is simple but is enlivened by wonderful and suitably colourful and endearing characters right from Bruce the shark to the carefree tortoises. The film also succeeds in highlighting two different water worlds - the underwater world and the world of the aquarium where Nemo is prisoner along with a host of other fish led by Dafoe’s monk fish.

The humour is never grating and despite the movie’s brilliance in terms of its animation this never overwhelms the central plot and the tender father-son relationship that lies at its heart.

Are there any weaknesses in the film?? If you really want to be picky…maybe it doesn’t pull at the heart strings in the way that Bambi or Lion King did and personally I would have liked to see more of Bruce the shark. But these are minor criticisms for a film that is consistently funny, warm, moving and oh so beautiful. A masterpiece. Can’t wait for the DVD.