Shark Tale [G]

Oscar is a little fish in a big pond, a really big pond: the ocean. Fed up with being a nobody, he tells a little white lie about him being a fierce and merciless shark slayer, thus gaining fame, fortune, and everything he’s ever dreamed of. But it’s the truth universally known that a little white lie can grow bigger and bigger, and soon Oscar learns that this lie is about to bite him back. 

From Dreamworks, the studio that brought us the immortal genius of Shrek comes this wonderfully fishy and freshly witty underwater animated comedy. Filled with heaps of familiar voices, great animation, and backed by a clever script, Shark Tale is a perfect family movie. 

Oscar is a little fish in a big pond, a really big pond: the ocean. Slaving away at a Whale Wash service and being in massive debt to his boss, Oscar is fed up with being a nobody. But all this changes when Oscar is set to be a shark’s meal and an anchor gets dropped on the shark, killing it. Realising that he could make all his dreams come true, Oscar tells a little white lie about how it was he that killed the shark, thus becoming The Shark Slayer. Suddenly Oscar is living his dream of being a somebody, but it’s the truth universally known that a little white lie can grow bigger and bigger, and Oscar soon learns that his little lie is capable of biting back. To keep his secret, Oscar teams up with vegetarian and outcast shark Lenny and the two become the most unlikely of friends. But as the lie begins to unravel, it’s up to Oscar’s loyal friend Angie to help Oscar and Lenny stand up against the Godfather of the Reef: Don Lino. 

The thing I love most about this movie is the animation. Each character has a subtle resemblance to the actor who provides the voice. Like Oscar and Lola, voiced by Angelia Jolie and Will Smith, both have very full lips. Don Lino, voiced by Robert De Niro, has a mole on the right side of his face. And Sykes, who is voiced by Martin Scorsese, has very prominent eyebrows. Even for the remake of the song Car Wash, done by Missy Elliott and Christina Aguilera, the characters look like how Missy and Christina would look if they were a fish and a jellyfish. It’s really very funny, like an underwater avatar. 

The film is filled with numerous witty and subtle jokes, some of which are spoken and some of which are voiced. And what makes it really good is the strong message about lying, which plays against the visual and verbal comedy. 

Featuring the voice talents of Will Smith, Robert De Niro, Renee Zellweger, Angelina Jolie, Jack Black, Martin Scorsese, Ziggy Marley, and Doug E. Doug, Shark Tale is a wonderful underwater comedy that’s funny for all ages. A perfect Saturday night family movie.