Shark Tale (2004)

I just can't understand why "Shark Tale" is so underrated. I have watched this movie about 3 times and yet, I still can't get enough of it. The fact is that the characters were very entertaining, the animation was brilliant, and the story was great and was sending messages along with it, such as accept your destiny, be happy with who you are, accept others for who they are, and you don't have to live "on top of the reef" to be a "somebody." This movie also exposes us to the pop culture. What more does this movie need to to make it a good one? I mean this movie has it all: laughs and everything. Then why is it so underrated? I really don't know. I do know though, that "Shark Tale" is one of the best movie I have ever watched.

Fmovies: "Shark Tale" is the latest animated feature from DreamWorks, the same studio that gave us "Antz" and "Shrek." This new story can be called a cross between "Finding Nemo" and "The Godfather." It's no "Shrek," but it's still enjoyable. The voice talent was well cast, with Will Smith as Oscar, the ambitious "small fish in a big pond" who finds himself an instant celebrity; Jack Black as Lenny, a peaceful vegetarian shark; Robert DeNiro as Don Lino, Lenny's father, the head of a shark mob, etc. The animation looks good, and a lot of movie references are clever. Sometimes, though, the producers of the movie seem to be trying too hard. But even if it doesn't always hit the mark, "Shark Tale" is worth a look.

This animated story is set down in the ocean with the main characters as fish and mollusks. The story is about a unsatisfied tongue scrubber, Oscar, who works at the whale wash, owned by a blowfish, Mr Sykes, who has connected deals with local mob boss Don Lino. Both of them are literally in deep with the sharks. Oscar owes a huge and overdue debt to them, and his co-worker Angie, secretly in love with him, offers him the money to cover it, but he blows it all on a seahorse. Meanwhile, Don Lino is concerned about the image of his son, Lenny, who refuses to eat meat. He sends his other son, Frankie, to teach him how to hunt. They spot Oscar being tortured by Sykes's jellyfish henchmen, Ernie and Bernie and Frankie sends Lenny after him to gobble him up, but he just can't bring himself to eat a fish. Enraged, Frankie speeds after Oscar and is stopped by an anchor that lands on him and fatally wounds him. Lenny, distraught with grief and guilt, swims away. Ernie and Bernie then find Oscar beside the dead shark and assume that he killed him. Oscar now realizes he can take advantage of this and makes up a story that instantly brings him fame and fortune, and winning the heart of a beautiful but shallow lion fish, Lola. However, Don Lino, angered over the loss of his son, vows to find a way to get to him and make him pay.

The message basically shows that Oscar, not knowing that Angie loves him, doesn't realize that he never needed to be at the top of the reef to feel good. Anyone who has good lives, making a good living and hanging out with friends, always want more out of life, and only once they loose the good life they had before, do they realize it. I think a lot of people can relate to that. This film has the best cast ever. The fact that all these brilliant actors are together in one film is what makes it worthwhile to watch. Robert De Niro, Will Smith, Martin Scorsese, Angelina Jolie, Renée Zelweger and Jack Black. I loved this film so much that I became obsessed with all the actors who appeared in it. It introduced me to Mafia films, which of course contained some of the best in all of film history. It also has an excellent soundtrack full of brilliant music, which in my opinion, is a thing a great movie has to have.

Unfortunately, this picture has now become terribly underrated, so much that people don't even want to hear about it anymore, let alone praise it. After Shrek, Dreamworks produced this great film, then a second Shrek (not as good as the first one, but better than the third) and Madagascar. The latter, though compared to Shark Tale, was a disappointment, it became one of the last last good movies that Dreamworks Animation released. They just seemed to have lost it now. Even the acclaimed How To Train Your Dragon, which was much better than some of the previous Dreamwork films, lacks anything exceptional. Only Kung Fu Panda and Megamind seems to capture the real essence of Shark Tale and the first Shrek. They always mention Shrek and Madagascar in their new films, but never Shark Tale, which is a real shame. When you look it like that, there's really nothing bad about it. It's a funny comedy that really lifts your spirits. Pixar often continues makes outstanding movies, but I'll always remember this one as the film that introduced me to the real masterpieces of cinema.

Shark Tale fmovies. Had "Shark Tale" had even an iota of the wit and charm that seems to have little trouble finding its way into Pixar's creations, the movie might have been more enjoyable. At the least the filmmakers could have snuck in some funny social commentary through the veil of animation.

What we have instead is an urban, glib, lifeless product that is market-tested and ready for consumption. An empty ghetto-fabulous morality tale loaded with pop culture references and plenty of bling-bling but no heart.

Under the ocean, Oscar (voice of Will Smith) is a tongue-scrubber at a "whale-wash" and part-time hustler. He wishes for a better life, hoping to swim his way to the top of the fish social ladder, though his coworker Angie (voice of Renee Zellweger) thinks he should be happy with who he is, and tries to subtly drop hints that she's quite taken with him.

Meanwhile, great white shark and local crime boss Don Lino (voice of Robert De Niro) is planning to turn his family business over to his two sons, Frankie and Lenny. But Lenny (voice of Jack Black) is harboring some serious issues concerning eating other fish, and the godfather is worried his weak son with reflect poorly on him.

Oscar has problems. In debt to his boss Sykes (voice of Martin Scorsese), he soon ends up in hot water. However, fate runs him smack into Frankie and Lenny. During the scuffle, an anchor accidentally kills Frankie and Oscar is mistakenly given credit for the kill. Now a media celebrity for being a "shark slayer," Oscar rides his status all the way to the top, with Sykes managing his interests and the sharks fuming that their top spot in the food chain is quickly losing its power.

Situations soon escalate and Oscar and Lenny reach an agreement: if they fake a battle and Oscar emerges triumphant, he can keep his credibility as a shark slayer and Lenny can start a new life.

"Shark Tale" openly references "The Godfather" and "Jaws" at every opportunity, which in and of itself isn't too bad except that so little is made of the main plot itself that the whole move feels like a patchwork of other, better movies, just with a meaningless hip-hop attitude. The special effects are up to par but there's nothing really special about them. The audience needs a story and characters, not just choreographed dance sequences and goofy product placements.

All this might have been negligible had the movie actually been funny. This, sadly, is not the case. I only recorded one good laugh during the screening I attended, and that involved a shark voiced by Peter Falk whose flatulence had the expected effect on a henchmen. When a fart joke is the best you have to offer, then you've got serious problems.

The story also steals shamelessly from the 1942 Disney cartoon "The Reluctant Dragon," which featured a fixed battle between a loudmouth braggart knight and a pacifist dragon to keep the locals off both their backs. That story was at least short and cute, neither of which can be said about this debacle.

Along with the plot, voice acting is pretty lifeless as well. Smith gets to indulge his ego, playing his own persona on screen once again, this time in fish form. De Niro and Scorsese seem to be having fun spoofing their own tough guy roles, but that's about it from them. The biggest surprise is how much of a laid-back performance Black gives. His trademark manic desperation is nowhere to be seen, playing instead a shockingly

It could be just me but I thought that the humor in this movie was perfect. I laughed lot's of times throughout the movie and was very entertained by it. I however think that this movie will not be loved by young children, they simply will not be able to understand most of the jokes and the movie also lacks some 'likeable Disney type of characters' for them.

I never was really interested to go and watch this movie since it got lot's of bad reviews and I thought that the trailer looked horrible and very unfunny. I however decided to pick up this movie nevertheless because I was interested in how the famous voice cast would pull off, Martin Scorsese in particular. I was pleasantly surprised when I watched the movie. the humor was spot on and I was entertained the whole time. I know lot's of people probably are going to hate me for this but I thought this movie was even better and more entertaining than any of the two Shrek movies.

The movie doesn't have a whole lot of story and is pretty average in every way. I however feel that this is one of this movies were the story really is secondary. The movie has your average love story, in which Angelina Jolie's character is really unnecessary and adds absolutely nothing, in my opinion but watching Robert De Niro's character scream and shout and giving orders to Martin Scorsese's character on the other hand was absolutely priceless.

Will Smith was a great main character and just as entertaining as Eddie Murphy in an animated movie.

I predict that the music in this movie will be absolutely hated in 20 years by now, just as much as I hate '80's music in movies now. No, I really didn't liked the songs in this movie mainly because in unlike the Shrek movies, they aren't any evergreens.

If you plan to buy this movie for your kids, think twice, you're probably better of watching "Finding Nemo" with them. If you're a adult or young adult that likes animated movies, this movie might be worth your time and money, although the humor in this movie is really a matter of taste.

8/10

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I can't explain why I didn't like Shark Tale too much. Visually there is a creative backdrop which is absolutely beautiful. I wonder if they just took pictures of New York, doused it underwater and worked around the scenery. Because with the exception of that imagery, Shark Tale has a very loud, very brash, in-your-face mentality that takes away from the movie. Other features like The Little Mermaid and Finding Nemo invite you to the paradise of being under the sea. Shark Tale throws you in the middle of the loudest club and tells you to get down on it. I don't buy it and with the exception of some visual gags, nobody else could neither. This is also another movie where Will Smith can get back into his Fresh Prince gear and get away with it and Jack Black could play a gender confused shark and be accepted for it as well. I wanted to enjoy the scenery and the sight of an underground New York. Shark Tale offered it but instead beat us silly with all the hoopla we see everyday on the television set. What a disappointment. Enjoy the humor and expect nothing more.