Director:
Vicky Jenson & Bibo Bergeron

Cast:
Will Smith
Jack Black
Renee Zellweger
Martin Scorsese

Official URL:

http://www.sharkslayer.com

Country: USA
Rating: PG
Studio Name: Dreamworks Pictures
Running Time: 0 hr 89 mins
Release Date: October 1, 2004

Critics's Rating:
(2 1/2 Reels) 

October 1, 2004

By Veronica Mixon

Everyone knows that cartoons are big business in the movies and audiences eagerly await the latest release like any live-action film. After being charmed by Shrek movies and Finding Nemo, DreamWorks’s Shark Tale starring Will Smith will definitely be a big draw. But, Shark Tale is a concoction of movie memorabilia and commercial gags.

Shark Tale is a colorful and very, very busy movie about life in an underwater reef that is plagued by a mafia of sharks. The denizens of the reef include the wily, fast-talking gambler, Oscar (voice of Will Smith) who works as a whale washing business managed by a blowfish (voice of Martin Scorsese). Oscar dreams of being famous and wealthy. He ignores the good advice of his the fish-next-door, Angie (voice of Renee Zellweger) who is secretly in love with him. The head of the sharks, Lino (voice of Robert DeNiro) wants his two sons to take over the business but one son, Lenny (Jack Black) is a gentle soul who is a pacifist. So, when Lenny and Oscar accidentally meet, they devise a plan that will help both of them achieve their greatest desire. Lenny gets to lay low while Oscar becomes rich and famous as ‘the shark slayer.’ He attracts the pretty gold-digger, Lola (voice of Angelina Jolie) and the wrath of Lino.

Shark Tale is a pretentious little film and a brilliant marketing tool. The techno-color world glittering high rises, low-rent slums and busy Times Square like traffic of every kind of sea life is dazzling and amusing. There is tons of product placement (“Gup” like Gap), jokes (a lonely sushi shop) and references to movies, i.e. the 1970s cult classic Car Wash, Jaws, Jerry Maguire and The Godfather. This is all familiar stuff for kids and adults alike but where is the heart of the film?

Will Smith (I, Robot) talks and does his ‘thang’ but the script doesn’t necessary produce laughs. School of Rock’s Jack Black is usually a power-house of laughs in feature movies but his voice performance is very flat. Martin Scorsese (director of Good Fellas) is wonderful as the blowfish and his good friend, Robert DeNiro delivers a good Godfather parody but he’s done that before on the big screen. The actual acting and comic gems come from Renee Zellweger (Cold Mountain) as Angie, who stays true to Oscar no matter how painful it gets. “You’re the shark slayer!” she shouts at Oscar when he’s stunned that Lino is seeking revenge. Several of the minor characters are hysterical, too. Blowfish’s henchmen, the two Jamaican jelly fish that zap everyone in sight are funny. And, the terrified shrimp begging for his life with a story about a dismal factory job and his orphaned children is hilarious!

I have little doubt that Shark Tale will be a huge hit but it isn’t as heart-warming or charming like the vastly superior Finding Nemo.

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