Shark Tale

Reviewed By John Gibbon

     Watching Shark Tale is like staring at a fish bowl for an hour and a half. Oh sure, the fish look pretty, but all they do is move their mouths and swim around without any sense of direction, and by the end of the first hour of watching you feel the urge to take a nap.

     This whale of a tale begins when we meet Lenny (Jack Black), a wimpish softie of a great white shark who’s disappointed his father Don Lino (Robert De Niro) because he prefers vegetarian meals. Don Lino had plans for Lenny to take over the mob-like family business. So, to make things right, Lenny goes with his brother (Sopranos’ Michael Imperioli) to try and change his ways. Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the ocean, Oscar (Will Smith) is a small fish with big ocean dreams living in a bustling fish metropolis. Oscar longs to leave his meager life behind and live famously atop the reef but can’t figure out how. In a last minute get-rich-quick plot, he bets all his money at the (seahorse) track and loses, and finds himself in deep with his blowhard of a blowfish boss (Martin Scorsese).

     Then fate steps in and brings Lenny and Oscar together. Oscar takes credit for killing Lenny’s brother and becomes zero to hero on the reef. But soon Oscar the sharkslayer finds himself caught in the proverbial net, caught between the understanding love of his unpretentious best friend Angie (Renee Zellweger) and the salacious intrigue of the little gold diggin’ woman of a fish Lola (Angelina Jolie) while further proving that he’s the hero. While helping Lenny uphold the family name, Oscar finds his lies get him in more and more trouble. But Oscar soon learns lying won’t always get you what you want the most. 

     Based on these ideals, Shark Tale could have had serious potential as a smart kids classic. It’s just hard to believe that this came from the same studio that brought us the witty adult-oriented animated kidfests, Antz (1998) and Shrek (2001). Will Smith and Jack Black are normally funny guys when the opportunity presents itself, but here they’re just two dead fish. Just as Sinbad proved last year, star actors don’t always equal star quality animated performances. For example, including some odd casting choices like Katie Couric and Peter Falk could have proved see-worthy, but their talents here border on hapless mediocrity. What’s worse is that for a movie that should pride itself on its CGI know-how, it comes off feeling one-dimensional both in looks and overall quality.

     There are plenty of hook, line and stinkers in the movie. First of all, the script simply lacks vitality and originality as the writers insisted upon pilfering every outdated hip-hop and mob reference possible, but also has its stars using lines made famous by previous films. On a positive note, the shrimp cocktail was admittedly worth a try for a good laugh. Catching the onscreen antics of the Rasta jellyfishes portrayed by Ziggy Marley and Doug E. Doug was entertaining, but the culturally stereotyped comedy stint has been done before too, most recently with “The McKenzie Brothers” as two Canadian moose in Disney’s Brother Bear (2003). It was also a nice surprise seeing Scorsese in a hilarious turn as Oscar’s boss, but here again the manic blowfish joke has been used in another better quality fish film. To be honest, Shark Tale has about as much bite as a toothless piranha. So, if you’re out and about and fishing for a good movie to see, throw this one back! 

     But seriously, if you want to see a heartwarming movie about fish tales, see Tim Burton’s Big Fish (2004). If you want to see an animated movie about cute fish, watch Disney’s Finding Nemo… AGAIN! And, if you want to see a movie that smartly uses nostalgic movie references, then go out and see Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, NOW!