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Shark Tale
Directed by: Bibo Bergeron and Vicky Jenson
Starring: Will Smith (voice)
Genre:
Animated
Run Time: 90
min.
Release Date:
October 2004
On The Web:
Official
Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by
Byron Merritt |
Having grown up watching
one or two dimensional stylized cartoons (Bugs Bunny, The Road Runner,
Foghorn Leghorn, etc.), I was pleased to see studios take a recent
interest in animation again.
CARS was great. I loved
HOODWINKED.
Even HAPPY FEET was funny and put a cool spin on old themes.
But SHARK TALE fell flat on its face. Although the animation was decent,
the script was horribly cliche-riddled and barely allows for a few
chuckles. This was equally depressing considering how many "names" gave
their voices to characters.
Will Smith (I
AM LEGEND) takes the lead as Oscar, a little fish in a a big
ocean who's nearby when a shark gets killed by a falling anchor.
Everyone thinks he killed the shark, and he becomes known as "The
Shark Slayer" (ala,
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER). A hidden
love interest, Angie, voiced by
Renee Zellweger (CINDERELLA
MAN), becomes disenfranchised with him after his rise to
fame and his abrupt involvement with a lusty-looking femme-fish fatale
named Lola (Angelina Jolie,
A MIGHTY HEART). But little Oscar is in
for some big trouble. The falling anchor killed the son of shark mobster
Don Lino (Robert De Niro,
STARDUST) and The Don is out to
get Oscar.
All of this happens around Oscars job, The Whale Wash, allowing for some
terrible reminisence involving the 1976 smash disco hit
Car Wash by Rose Royce.
I'm sure the actors read the script before signing on to do the voices,
which made me feel surpised that they did (Jack Black,
Martin Scorsese,
Peter Falk,
Katie Couric, and many, many others).
Shark Tale tries to incorporate too much of the not-so-enjoyable 70s
music and culture (bright colors, early rap beats, over-the-top hair
styles, etc.), and to some extent it succeeds. But the script is so lame
and unimaginative that it becomes a chore to watch, especially when the
gags were sub-par or overly done.
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Image from Shark Tale
DVD cost: $7.99
Purchase:
Tower.com
Film Review Stew
Favorite? No.
Stew Poo-Poo? No.
Newsworthy:
When Lenny coughs up the
objects on the table, one of them is a license plate with the
registration "007 981." This is the same plate found inside the tiger
shark in Jaws (1975).
Movie Quote: "My
brother, my player, the shark-slayer!"
Other Actors/Actresses
from Shark Tale
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