In this somewhat water-logged underwater tale, Will Smith plays Oscar, a small-time fish who passes the time working at the Whale Wash and hanging with his best friend Angie (voiced by Renee Zellweger).

Miles away where the predators dwell, shark Lenny (Jack Black) finds it
increasingly difficult to find acceptance from his mobster father Don Lino
(Robert DeNiro). Granted it’s hard to blame the Don. After all, his son has become a vegetarian, and given that sharks are amongst the most tenacious creatures in the sea, this trait doesn’t sit well with him..

Under a rather strange set of circumstances, Oscar and Lenny meet and
become friends. And in even a more odd situation, Oscar earns the undeserving nickname the Sharkslayer (the film’s original - and much more
appropriate - title), following a freak accident that claims the life of a Great White. This, of course, sends shock waves throughout the ocean.

Visually, Shark Tale is nowhere near as astonishing as it should be. The
underwater vistas that were so vividly brought to life via computer animation in Finding Nemo, aren’t as vibrant here. In fact, there were a couple of moments (scenes featuring characters being still and delivering dialogue) when it didn’t even seem like the movie was taking place under water. Had it not been for the occasional bubble, and the fact that these were fish, the movie could have taken place anywhere.

And unlike Finding Nemo, much of Shark Tale is gimmicky. Take for instance
the city where the fish dwell. It’s modeled after New York City, only with an underwater twist. This is a similar technique used in The Flinstones (remember Hollyrock), and other cartoons, but here, it just didn’t work.

The characters themselves are cute, and as is the case with most animated
creations, each character bears a resemblance to their human actor counterpart. I especially liked blowfish Sykes (voiced by veteran director
Martin Scorsese). The animators got the eyebrows down perfectly.

The vocal talent is merely passable. Will Smith does his best Will Smith
impersonation, while Robert DeNiro hams it up in another self parody
showcase as a mob "shark" (at least he doesn’t embarrass himself here like
he did in the overrated Analyze This - I’m sorry I missed the sequel). I did
enjoy Angelina Jolie’s sultry Angel Fish “Lola” and Katie Couric’s cameo as
news reporter Katie Current. Perhaps the biggest disappointment is Jack
Black. Being the manic, charismatic screen force he is, you’d think he’d be
the perfect actor to bring a cartoon character to life. Sadly, this just isn’t
the case. At least, not in this movie. But then the writing is so soggy, that it doesn’t seem entirely fair to blame Black.

Shark Tale really loses it’s way in the plot department. The film is more
about Oscar (and his struggle to make a decent living - shades of Barbershop
and Car Wash are abundant) and his fellow fish, than it is about the sharks. The trailer suggests that it’s Lenny’s story. The movie also could have benefited from a little subtlety with it’s blatant metaphor for homosexuality. I suppose Shark Tale is attempting to teach audiences about tolerance, but the way in which it goes about it, isn’t particularly effective, because it’s so chalk-full of stereotypes.

In the end, Shark Tale just wasn’t lively enough for me. There are too many
jokes that just don’t work, although the ones that do are pretty funny. Take for example a moment in which DeNiro’s shark says to Scorsese’s blowfish; "We’ve been working together for a long time now." I also liked a
scene in which a newspaper is advertising a new film called The Hook - mocked up to look like the ad for Dreamworks’ The Ring. These are clever moments. It’s too bad there weren’t more of them.

I think this is the first animated feature I’ve ever seen that I felt was tinkered-with too much during post production. I get the distinct impression that the film makers were going for something completely different, but then they changed their minds after the project was completed. As a result, this isn’t the whale of a good time I was hoping for, but you could certainly do worse (First Daughter anyone?)

Grade: C+