*** Official "FINDING NEMO" Review Thread (1 Viewer)

[Claire Panke]

Saw Nemo at a sneak last week...wonderful! I'll be taking my friend's 8 year old to see it as soon as it opens.

The crowd at the sneak actually applauded at the end...and the audience was mostly adults. This may not open as big as MR, because it won't be on as many screens or have all night showings...but Nemo will be HUGE, bigger than MR I predict. I don't see how not. It's the real deal and gorgeous to look at.

(Edited for typo)

 

[Chris]

Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. This film is my hot pick of the summer. After catching an early show this morning, an invite event, I found myself with my jaw on the floor.

The animated effects truly show how far Pixar has come since the first Toy Story. The animation within this film is mindboggling, from light-based effects on the water to the murkiness presented in the depths of the ocean.

But where it really shines is the story line. I've long contended that I believe Toy Story 2 is the most adult, well thought out film of the Pixar family. I enjoy Toy Story, but found TS2 to be both more adult and more thought provoking.

"Finding Nemo" is not as deep as Toy Story 2, but in my mind, it is an equally compelling story well told and open to a broader audience. "Finding Nemo" is, at it's heart, a very simple parable about families and differences.

"Finding Nemo" is so well crafted in it's handling of subjects that it deftly moves from addressing physical disabilities to questions about our own purpose in life. The "can do" attitude of the movie will be well received by parents and general movie goers as well. The crowd I attended with - basically 15 people or less - and applause occurred at the end.. something the theater owner informed me was more then unusual.

Finding Nemo is basically everything you could wish for in family fare. It's a good story. It's well told. The animation is top notch. The voices are fantastic, with the voice of the father fish (Albert Brooks) being absolutely fantastic.

For people who are fans of films like "Matrix" and "Star Wars" this is a film -you must see- to see what real, wall to wall, digital effects done by true artists can look like.

:star: :star: :star: :star: :star: / :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:

 

[Robert Crawford]

This thread is now the Official Review Thread for "Finding Nemo". Please post all HTF member reviews in this thread.

Any other comments, links to other reviews, or discussion items will be deleted from this thread without warning!

If you need to discuss those type of issues then I have designated an Official Discussion Thread.



Crawdaddy

 

[ThomasC]

This is the most stunning animation I've seen by Pixar. The movie didn't get boring, but it didn't keep me engrossed in the story the way Monsters, Inc. and the two Toy Story movies did. I haven't seen A Bug's Life in a while, but I believe it's about on par with that. The short film shown before was decent as well. If you stay until the very end of the credits, you'll see a cameo by Mike Wazowski!

It's not a :star::star::star:1/2 movie, but it wasn't :star::star::star: material either, so it gets :star::star::star: and a quarter.

 

[steve jaros]

What a treat! The animation was stunning, and the story was attention-grabbing as well. I'm no fan of Degeneres, but she was excellent.

Disney/Pixar is an amazing collaboration. They've produced nothing but 3 and 4 - star films. When a gem like "a bug's life" is the *worst* of 5 films you've made, you know the quality is stratospheric.

Here's hoping Disney and Pixar stay teamed up - why break up a winner?

Money aside, of course.

 

[Patrick Sun]

This is a cute movie with very nice fluid computer animation, though I still have a problem with fish that have eyelids (a minor nitpick). The story is more than adequate to keep the kids engrossed in it, but I don't think it's as engrossing as it could have been. There are scary spots in the film, but nothing super traumatic for young children.

I was pleasantly surprised that the director, Andrew Stanton, does the voice for Crush, the sea turtle.

The kids will have a nice time, and will laugh where they should. Adults will more than likely marvel at the animation.

I give it 3 stars, or a grade of B.

P.S. Before the film, there is an animated short "Nome Sweet Nome" which was done in 1989 by the folks at Pixar. But there are no outtakes doing the end credits (but there are some fishes that swim around as the credits roll).

 

[Chuck Mayer]

It's Pixar.

The pre-credits bit is tasteful. Post-credits takes a little while to get started, but once it starts, it's typical Pixar magic.

I thought it was tad bit better than MI, a bit better than ABL, and almost as good as Toy Story. Toy Story 2 is still the king

Charming and fun film with GREAT voice casting.

The animation is simply jaw-dropping. When you actually notice stuff, it's beyond belief. The rest of the time, it's better. A few times, it's damn near photorealistic. The effects houses should sit back and take note.

9/10

Take care,
Chuck

 

[David Ely]

:star: :star: :star: :star: :star: / :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:

I actually went in to Finding Nemo with lower expectations than I normally do for a Pixar film. I ended up having a blast!

One think that must be said is all fish enthusiasts MUST see this movie. Now I finally have an explaination for all the wierd things going on in my fish tanks

there is an animated short "Nome Sweet Nome"

Sorry to nitpick, but the short is called "Knick Knack"

 

[Dan Hitchman]

:star: :star: :star: :star: out of :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:

I give Toy Story 2 a :star: :star: :star: :star: :star: rating.

A little bit better than Monsters, Inc. with a boat load of adult humor (that's why). The kids in the audience were like "huh?" for many of the jokes (90% of which were in-jokes), but the adults were laughing their butts off (like me!).

I was pleasantly surprised at how well Ellen D. did as a voice-over actress as she usually annoys me. Far and away better than [shudder] Rosie O'Donnell!

Oh, and co-director Stanton also provided the voice of Emperor Zurg in TS2!

Brad Bird's upcoming The Incredibles, if as funny as the trailer makes it out to be, will be another megaton hit.

After seeing the preview for Brother Bear I'd say to PIXAR... run don't walk away from Disney! PIXAR, while only dealing with computer animation, consistantly does a better job story-wise and design-wise than Disney has since Atlantis (and perhaps before that).

Dan

P.S. It's the best summer film I've seen so far, and I can't wait for the DVD (hopefully with DTS this time!).

 

[Yoshi Sugawara]

Just saw this just a mile away from Pixar Studios, at the AMC in Emeryville, at a digital projection showing.

A great film - visually immersive, good story, funny characters, snappy humor. They've consistently proven themselves as great storytellers as well as churn out the best visuals.

I thought Ellen Degeneres was great, hilarious at times.

The digital image quality was awesome - totally pulled me in.

They're way above Disney, as they can appeal both to kids and adults. I almost feel bad that they have to be associated with Disney, especially after seeing the formulaic Brother Bear trailer....

:star: :star: :star: :star: out of :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:

 

[Aaron Garman]

Screened May 30, 2003 at Cinemark Movies 14 Mishawaka, IN Auditorium 13 DTS Digital Sound

Hello all. Truly, a gem of this summer in the midst of all these stinking sequels. Pixar really gives us another film to remember for quite some time. Not only do we get an amazing story, but the visuals are simply stunning. As one reviewer said, Pixar has really come a long way since the original Toy Story. The attention to detail is awesome. Some might think that the film is murky, however that is simply the way the sea would most likely look. Take a look at how the scenes within the office look and you will see exactly what I mean. The only thing that dissapointed me was

the lack of screentime for the sharks. I found this to be one of the funniest moments: seeing these carnivores going to a self help group. It was terrific!


Technically, the picture and sound were awesome. Again, Pixar is just putting out animation that borders the real. In many scenes, the water just looks stunning and the print we screened really shows this. The colors are eye-popping to look at on the plethora of fish scene in the film. As for sound, just look at the credits: Gary Rydstrom. When one sees his name, we know that the mix will be great. Again, this is an awesome mix. The DTS mix I heard was great, with clear dialouge and extremely directional surrounds. At one point, voices from the right surround scared us! The DTS discs that came with the print were labled DTS-ES, however we do not have the cabaility for 6 channels at our place. I would assume the print is also in Dolby EX, however it is not listed in the credits. Maybe Disney will give us a 6.1 discrete mix for DVD?

Overall, this movie rocked. See it again and again!

AJG

 

[Brandt]

:star: :star: :star: :star: out of :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:

Took my 3 kids (ages 3, 5, 7) to see this on Friday, and they all loved it. Lots of memorable scenes, great voice acting, and the visuals were stunning. Ranks right up there with the Toy Story films, but doesn't quite get to the Toy Story 2 level.

The only real beef I had with the film is similar to Aaron's: There were so many memorable characters that didn't get enough screen time, or that I wanted to see more of, particularly the sharks and the sea turtles. It felt like a lot of time was spent setting these characters up, and I was hoping that we would get to spend more time with them. However, this is a minor complaint, as the film works very well they way it is currently structured.

 

[Raymond_H]

:star: :star: :star: :star: out of :star: :star: :star: :star:


Finding Nemo is one of those movies that upon leaving the theater I had a BIG grin across my face. Its one of those films where I can discuss the many outstanding scenes with to anybody who watched it.

24 hours later, I am still deciding what was the funniest scene. There were just too many.

Its also one of those films where I believe you need a 2nd viewing. Not to understand it but to fully appreciate the many jokes there are abound in the movie. I know I missed some because I was still laughing from the previous scene.

The characters are memorable, the dialouge very witty and it never felt dull.

I thought this movie has ALOT of appeal towards adults, and it was very surprising that in our theater there were ALOT of couples and adults rather then a majority of children.

Pixar has an incredilbe name and its been given high expecations for every movie, and it has satisfied those expecations every time.

Talking to a co-worker about Finding Nemo (whose idea of good movies to see include Steven Segal, xXx, Blue Crush etc...) was excited to see that movie. For the CGI?

" No because they (Pixar) have great stories"

Raymond

 

[Arman]

Finding Nemo is America's answer to Japan's Spirited Away. Simply magnificent. To treat it as less than a masterpiece is an injustice.

Like Spirited Away, Finding Nemo has a simple story and yet it is most visually stunning, breathtakingly enthralling & "funtastically" engaging with a timeless and very profound message to everyone. Once again, Spirited Away & Finding Nemo have achieved what other spectacular & excellent animation films like The Iron Giant, Toy Story 2, Princess Mononoke, Akira, Beauty & The Beast, Toy Story , Shrek, A Bug's Life, Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs, Monsters, Inc & Metropolis failed to do & tried to become. Being perfect!

 

[Mikel_Cooperman]

Loved it!
I was a bit dissapointed with Monsters Inc so I didnt want to get my hopes up but I was mesmerized and this is coming from someone in their 30's.

Great story and Allot of memorable characters especially the Turtles. I want the action figures now.
Ellen Degeneres stole the movie.
Take your kids and bring all your friends. This movie is not just for kids.

 

[Joe McCabe]

Pixar does it again!!!

I found Finding Nemo to be a much better time than Monsters Inc. I know alot of people LOVED Monsters, but I just thought something was lacking there. Though, I can't quite put my finger on what it was.

Nemo however, was just a fun ride all the way through, and as already stated, the animation was top notch.

The seagulls were hilarious!!! "Mine? MINE! MINE!"

Great flic!

 

[dealy]

I guess I'm the odd man out here.

I took my two kids and a neighbor kid (4, 6, 8) to see this film yesterday. My kids enjoyed it but I was actually kinda sorta, bored. I found myself looking at my watch to see how much longer I was going to be there (of course I didn't see anything in the dark).

It may have been that I was just tired and not in all too great a mood. But I was just not laughing very often. I thought the animation was absolutely top notch. And the story was also pretty decent, though predictable. I have to admit that Albert Brooks has never been an actor I cared for, and during the film I kept asking myself who's voice was this that I could almost recognize. When the credits rolled and I saw that it was Brooks, I thought to myself, hmm that kinda explains my lukewarm feeling about the movie.

I thought that Ellen DeGeneress' character was the most interesting one in the movie.

 

[John^Lal]

I give Finding Nemo :star: :star: 1/2 out of :star: :star: :star: :star: :star: . I thought it was on par with A Bug's Life. Just like A Bug's Life i thought it was lacking seriously lacking on humor (thats why i see Pixar movies).
I was mostly annoyed by this movie, especially because every character was very 1 dimensional. every character was some kind of stereotype and none of them grew out of this. The sharks, i think was were part of the story that i think could have been much better, i just did not like the whole AA meeting thing.
I don't denie the animation was wonderful in this flick but i care about the story much more, and i think pixar missed the mark

 

[Tim Glover]

Loved it. Nearly on par with the other Pixar legends.

To my surprise, Ellen D. was absolutely fantastic in this. Her delivery seemed to be what the Dr. ordered at times we needed humor.

:star: :star: :star: :star: out of :star: :star: :star: :star:

 

[Adam_S]

:star::star::star::star: (out of four)

Regular as clockwork Pixar turns out excellent excellent films. Not quite the briliance that is Toy Story 2 or Monsters Inc. after a first viewing I'd rank this as the third best effort from the Lamp. That may change with subsequent viewings. Next to Toy Story 2 this film has the richest character interaction, I never for a moment questioned the emotional depth and resonance of these fish, they might as well have been real people. It's not as out and out funny as Monsters Inc. but I think that the characterizations and relationships are stronger. The story is excellent, and there is more than one way you can say that its about finding Nemo. One of Marlin's and Dori's final scenes together is simply incredible, and one of the best and most emotional moments this year, as well as one of the best acted moments as well. Excellent film, not as exciting as MI this film has a quieter, more subtle greatness going for it. In that sense this is more like Spirited Away or Kiki's Delivery Service than any other Pixar film. (that's an enormous compliment btw.

Adam