THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
When you’re a kid, it’s easy to not notice the risks and sacrifices our parents make for us. Having said that, we have to remember they’ll be there for us no matter the scenario.
PLOT
Finding Nemo follows the clownfish Marlin and his sole titular son who live in the Great Barrier Reef. He once had a wife named Coral (Elizabeth Perkins) and multiple children, but were eaten by a barracuda. Nemo survived, but suffered the result of a smaller fin when his egg cracked too soon during the attack. The young clownfish is excited to go to school for the first time, as his father has been overprotective since he was born. His worries only worsen when his field trip involves visiting an area of open water called ‘the drop off’. When he tries to pull him from class within hours, Nemo chooses to rebel and touch a speedboat nearby. This would only result in him being captured by human scuba divers. Marl8n tries to pursuit the boat, but loses it before he could do anything else. He ends up getting help from a blue tang named Dory who saw which direction it went, but it gets problematic when she admits to suffer from short term memory loss. Before Marlin decides to continue the search alone, both encounter a shark named Bruce who invites them to a party. At a sunken ship surrounded by naval mines, the two fish meet Bruce’s shark friends Anchor (Eric Bana) and Chum (Bruce Spence). The point of the party is for them to address their pledge to stop eating fish. At the same boat, Marlin recognizes a mask worn by one of the divers that took Nemo. When he and Dory debate over who should read it for them, the latter gets accidentally hit in the face. Her nosebleed triggers Bruce into a feeding frenzy, chasing them until accidentally setting off the mines. Marlin & Dory would survive the impact, but would lose the mask into a deep trench. They would end up going into the area to retrieve it, but encounter a deadly anglerfish in the process. Once they avoid the creature, Dory is able to read and memorize the address written in the mask in hopes to narrow down where Nemo could be “P Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney”. In that address, Nemo is now in a fish tank within a dentist’s office. The array of sea creatures include: a Moorish idol named Gill, a starfish named Peach (Allison Janney), a yellow tang named Bubbles (Stephen Root), a porcupine fish named Bloat (Brad Garrett), a royal gramma named Gurgle (Austin Pendleton), a striped damselfish named Deb (Vicki Lewis) who believes to have a twin sister named Flo, and a shrimp named Jacques (Joe Ranft). The Tank Gang all aspire to escape due to the dentist’s niece Darla (LuLu Ebeling) killing the last fish she had as a pet (on accident). Despite Nemo being willing to help, he almost dies in an attempt to clog the tank’s filter tube. Due to how it was such a risk, Gill decides to stop trying to escape. As for Marlin & Dory, they do get directions from a school of moonfish to follow the East Australian Current. They advise them to pass through a trench, in which Marlin ignores. This mistake leads to him and Dory being surrounded by a herd of jellyfish. Despite swimming their way out, they pass out and get picked up by sea turtles who are also traveling through the EAC. When the two wake up, Marlin shares the story of his journey up until this point, and the story gets shared all over the ocean. When the Tank Gang gets a visit from their outdoor pelican friend Nigel, he tells Nemo that his dad is looking for him. This inspires the young fish to try again and succeed in clogging the filter tube. As he waits, he and the Tank Gang get the tank filthy enough hoping for the dentist to clean it up. When that happens, he’ll have to put them in bags, giving them to opportunity to jump out the closest window and into the harbor. Just when Marlin & Dory exit the EAC, they end up getting swallowed by a blue whale. However by the time they get expelled through it’s blowhole, they have arrived to Sydney, meaning that they are close to the dentist. By morning, neither have found the bait that took Nemo, but encounter Nigel who protects them from seagulls and takes them straight to the dentist. The Tank Gang’s plan gets foiled when the dentist places an advanced filter overnight. Nemo would get bagged up to be Darla’s present, despite the gang’s attempt to prevent that. However, the young fish pretends to be dead to prevent being taken. Just before the dentist considers throwing him in a trash can, Nigel arrives with Marlin & Dory. Marlin pushes the bird to enter the office to save his son, only for the dentist to throw them out. Because Nemo was still playing dead, Marlin mistakes his son to actually die. Darla would think he’s sleeping, resulting in her to shake his bag like she did to the last fish. Gill would save him by jumping onto Darla from the tank. This would lead to her breaking the bag and flip Nemo into the sink. Still believing his son has died, Marlin says goodbye to Nigel & Dory, and take the journey home. Thankfully, Nemo reaches to the ocean and finds Dory first who find his dad taking the same direction as a school of groupers. The reunion would only be short lived when Dory and many groupers get captured in a fishing trawler’s net. Nemo would take the risk to enter the net and instruct everyone to swim down. Marlin would do the same outside the net and with everyone working together, the combined force would break the net. With everyone free, Marlin would return to the reef with his son and allow him to keep going to school, whereas Dory would continue to be friends with the sharks. The film would end in a hilarious cliffhanger, showing the Tank Gang escape from the dentist’s office, but unsure how to break from the bags after reaching the harbor.
THOUGHTS
I’ve been watching for the many years since first seeing it in theaters and it’s not so crazy when I say I haven’t gotten enough of it. Directors Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich satisfied me with sharing an animated adventure that is very creative with it’s given environment. At this point of time, Pixar got our attention with game changing animation and I feel like this was the most distinguishable within the decade. From every second, every view of the aquatic life is breathtaking to witness. Every sea creature is just as interesting to look at as they are in real life. Just going from the anglerfish to the jellyfish to the whale, you can admit that they’re all dangerous yet beautiful figures. And that I find the most ironic statement to make of the ocean in general. Even though there was a sequel that was entertaining alone, this film is stronger due to its bold message addressed towards every kind of parent out there: You must escape your comfort zones for the sake of yourself and your children because you’ll never know what they’re capable of until you actually try it out. This message was very clear in the presence of a fictional parent whose trauma got the best of him. From the voice alone, Albert Brooks showed Marlin one who was too afraid of his surroundings and with such a tremendous loss, he wasn’t gonna bare risking to lose his only son. Even when he was right to avoid danger, that doesn’t mean you will face it everyday. With that mindset, he was holding his son back from exceeding expectations and unintentionally made it more about himself. Surprisingly, the rebellion he sparked in his son led to him to understand he over did his act in being protective. Alexander Gould showed Nemo as a kid who was eager and determined to explore and couldn’t stand his dad not giving him a chance. He knew his dad had good intentions, but it wasn’t gonna stop him from trying to do what he wanted. Had he not met the Tank Gang, he would’ve not been encouraged to act without worry. Having said that, I think most of the said gang were memorable in their own way. Willem Dafoe had us respect Gill for teaching him to not let your flaws define you. His plans never worked to his liking, but it never stopped him from trying and that’s something hard to not respect. Outside the tank, Geoffrey Rush & Barry Humphries made Nigel & Bruce memorable characters for surprisingly being friendly when being mistaken to be dangerous. They are great examples that you just gotta stop judging the book by the cover. As an actor, Stanton has us adore Crush for actually telling Marlin to give kids needed space for them to gain maturity. It worked for his son Squirt (Nicholas Bird) and once Marlin did the same for Nemo, he would trust him from then on. Of all the characters that has grown to be the most memorable, there is no way you wouldn’t say Dory. Ellen Degeneres made this character a living highlight reel for being the most optimistic of the bunch. She was funny throughout because she always spoke whatever came from her mind and had no shame about it. I mean if I was sure I could speak whale, I would not mind trying. The time Marlin spent with her taught him to be patient with the ones you love because it gives them the chance to grow. Had he not ran into her, he’d never change his parenting strategy. And having said that, she deserved the sequel to be about her. This film satisfies me every time, but my immortal love doesn’t excuse the issues I picked up on throughout my countless re-watches. For example, why does it take so long for Marlin to catch up with Nemo’s class? The teacher Mr Ray left about 12 seconds before he chose to follow. Even if there is traffic under the sea, I don’t think he would be minutes off from catching up. Another mistake he makes is choosing to not trust the sharks when they revealed they’re friendly. I know the story apices up with shark action, but he had no reason to not trust them at that point. It was definitely a surprise for us when the divers show up, but why does it take so long for the other fish to notice before Nemo? It is a big human and it wasn’t like they were hiding. If you’re telling me these guys had a camouflage mode for their swimsuits, it wouldn’t hurt acknowledging that. I don’t even blame Bruce for inviting Marlin & Dory to his party to prove he’s against eating fish now, but would it be a bad idea to not say that first? If he knows it’s hard for sharks to be trusted, he should’ve made his intentions clear. You guys know I don’t like continuity errors, so you expect me very confused on how Peach was not present at the tank when Nemo realizes his predicament, only to be attached to the glass for the remainder of her screen time. And let’s be honest, why would the humans keep the picture of Darla with her dead fish? This wants us to root for the fish, but I wouldn’t mind taking their word instead of a visual truth. Bill did have a good plan, but how did he not know how to be free from the bags? It is funny for him to forget of something so crucial, but it feels a little ridiculous for one so determined to be free. And was it really a good idea for the dentist to throw Nemo in the trash can instead of the toilet? He doesn’t know Nemo is playing dead, but it shouldn’t be a problem since he flushed the last fish. Other than that, this is one remains a delight to get through. In short, Finding Nemo is one of Pixar’s finest films for being the strongest one to bring families together. Whether you like animation or have respect towards the aquatic life, this is a must watch for you.
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