On the surface Shark Tale has a lot going for it. The studio responsible for the Shrek films, the co-director of Shrek, and to top it off an A-list group of talent providing the voices. The problem is that they were more fond of their actors than of their characters. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
The film circles around Oscar, a loud mouthed fish looking to pay of some debts while working at a whale wash which is actually a front for the shark mafia run by a puffer fish named Sykes. On the other side Don Lino is looking to pass on the family business to his two sons. Frankie is a shark any father could love, while Lenny is shark in name only, preferring to be a vegetarian. When Oscar can't pay off his debts he is sent off to be taught a lesson by Sykes Rastafarian jellyfish henchmen. One thing leads to another and Oscar is proclaimed a Shark Slayer.
No reading that, does it really sound like a movie a group of children would be able to get? The primary influence is The Godfather, a movie that is considerably older than it's target audience. And on top of all that, there is too much talking and not enough action. They try to play that line between children's movie, while trying to include enough to keep the adults interested, it's a shame that they don't succeed on either account.
This will invariably be compared to Finding Nemo, which this isn't even in Nemo's league. Nemo had the perfect kid/adult ratio. There were characters for everyone involved to identify with. Here, all of the characters are adults, there really isn't much for children to grab onto.
The script never falls into place, again, it seems as if they relied on the voice talent to carry it. The story is filled with moral ambiguity, and just never clicks. There are plenty of little one liners and segments which do benefit from the voices involved. I smiled, but I didn't feel any attachment to these characters as I did in Nemo or Shrek.
The voice cast is impressive, and if you don't recognize the voices, the characters bear a certain resemblance to their owners. Will Smith, Martin Scorsese, Robert Deniro, Jack Black, Michael Imperioli, Renee Zellweger, Angelina Jolie, Ziggy Marley, Doug E. Doug, and Katie Couric all play a role in the caper. All of them do fairly well with their characters, except for Jack Black who never seems to get on track.
Bottomline. I'd say skip this and wait for the video release. While there are some funny lines and scenes, it generally falls flat, and the animation is sub par when compared with others we've seen recently. It has a brief runtime, 80 minutes if your lucky, which works in it s favor, but you'll find yourself checking your watch and the kids will get restless, as they did at my screening.
Not recommended.
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