Finding Nemo

Written by Dorrin Gingerich

A clownfish Marlin (Albert Brooks) sets off on an epic quest to rescue his son Nemo (Alexander Gould) after a diver kidnaps him. Marlin runs into Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), a good natured blue tang who suffers from short term memory loss. Along their adventure, they run into all sorts of sea creatures like Bruce (a shark), who doesn't eat fish, a smack of jellyfish and a hippie sea turtle named Crush. Meanwhile in Sydney, Australia, Nemo is placed in an aquarium in a dental office. It's there he meets a whole slew of other fish who continuously plot new ways to escape to the ocean.

What Worked - The story is brilliantly crafted. It has just the right mix of humor, along with some heart warming scenes. Most of the humor is provided by Dory, hysterically voiced by Ellen DeGeneres. Dory also has a very profound scene that always provokes an emotional reaction within me. The scene's around the end of the movie, when Marlin wants to go his separate ways from Dory. She pleads with Marlin not to leave, because she remembers things better when he's around. It's just simply a wonderful scene.  Alomg with Dory there are plenty of other memorable side characters. Like Gill (Willem Defoe), a fish stuck in an aquarium that dreams of escape into the ocean, Bubbles (Stephen Root), a fish obsessed with bubbles, Squirt (Nicholas Bird) the young sea turtle that's hard to understand and Mr. Ray (Bob Peterson) the musical teacher. But, my personal favorites are the crabs by the sewer lines who throw their claws up and yell "HAY HAY" if you get too close to them. Also, the seagulls who scream "mine mine mine mine" whenever they see food. I like to mimic them whenever I see food I want.

The 3D - I was fortunate enough to see this 3D movie in theaters. So was it worth it? Yes and no, while I did enjoy Finding Nemo in 3D I wish they would've added more visual depth. You know there's plenty of depth in the ocean, so why not have the fish really pop out on screen? But, overall the 3D was a very pleasant experience and everything looks nice. If you're one of those people who really loves 3D, Finding Nemo was all right.

What Didn't Work - No complaints, it was all good.

Overall - Finding Nemo is arguably one of the best Pixar films to date. The story is very engaging and the movie is simply beautiful. It's also full of plenty of laughs mixed in magnificently with some heartwarming scenes. Guys do yourself a huge favor go buy Finding Nemo on Blu-ray or head to your local theater and watch it in 3D. You'll be glad you did.

A couple quotes from Dory -
Dory - Hey, Mr. Grumpy Gills
Dory - Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming.
Dory - I shall call him Squishy, and he shall be mine. And he shall be my Squishy.
Dory - What is it with men and asking for directions?
Dory - Wow, I wish I could speak whale.


So what you think? Who is your favorite character?