Review of Finding Nemo

Introduction

Pixar have done it again. They`ve taken a simple story and woven something truly magical. "Finding Nemo" is easily one of Pixar`s best movies.

It`s the story of a father`s search for his lost son. Having been widowed by a barracuda attack, clown fish Marlin is left with his only surviving son Nemo. Overprotective of his sprat, Marlin reluctantly takes Nemo to school for the first time and his worst fears are realised when Nemo is caught by a scuba diver. Albert Brooks (The In Laws) provides Marlin`s angst-ridden voice. Against all his instincts and fears, Marlin sets off into the wide blue ocean in search of Nemo.

Immediately he meets up with Dory, a Blue Tang with severe short term memory loss, voiced by Ellen Degeneres. Dory proves to be a sidekick in the Eddie Murphy - Donkey mould. A character that could be elbow-gnawingly aggravating somehow comes across as really sweet. She accompanies Marlin on his quest and they both find themselves facing vegetarian sharks (voiced by the Hulk`s Eric Bana and Barry Humphries adopting his Les Patterson tones); hypnotic jellyfish and surfer-dude turtles.

While his father makes his way to Sydney to rescue him, Nemo finds himself temporarily billeted in the office aquarium of the dentist who caught him. The other members of the aquarium are all somewhat deranged by their imprisonment but they are at least friendly which is more than can be said for the villain of the piece. Well, maybe villain is a strong word. Darla is a hyperactive preschooler with more scrap iron in her gob than Richard Kiel. The dentist is her uncle and he`s caught Nemo for her because she wants a pet fishie. Unfortunately, as far as aquarium life is concerned she`s a psycho fish killer.

Voices of note include Willem Dafoe`s turn as Gill, a scarred angel fish sharing the aquarium with Nemo and Pirates Of The Caribbean`s Geoffrey Rush as a friendly pelican called Nigel.

Video

As with all the Pixar movies, you`re watching a less generational picture than moviegoers at the premiere were (unless it was a digital projection theatre). No grain, no negative or positive specks, no dodgy splices - nothing to distract from the (pardon the pun) immersive experience. Colours are wonderfully bright, contrast is simply perfection. The discs include THX Optimiser routines for setting your tv to the best advantage.

Disc One "Plunge Into The Filmmakers` World" carries the film in its theatrical 1.78:1 aspect ratio. Disc Two "A Voyage Of Family Fun" is the standard fullframe 1.33:1 version. This has been achieved by "special reframing" by which the background plates have been extended above and below the theatrical frame so as to fill a standard 4:3 television screen. Cynics among you may want to suggest the movie was composed open-matte at 1.33:1 and shown theatrically at 1.78:1 like most conventional flat-widescreen movies.

Audio

For an animated film, everything has to be created from scratch, and as much care and attention has been put into the soundtrack of "Finding Nemo" as the imaging side of the production. Both prints of the movie come with full Dolby Digital 5.1EX soundtracks with THX certification.

Features

Disc One includes visual and audio commentaries by the production team, a documentary about the making of the movie, deleted scenes and artwork from the development of the movie. The first disc is aimed at the more mature animation fan, but is still couched in family-friendly tones.

Disc Two is definitely for the littlies, with an "exploring the reef with Jean-Michel Cousteau" piece, and various games and diversions. Most interesting on this disc is the inclusion of the classic "Knick Knack" short (revised to reduce the charms of the beach belle in the snowglobe neighbouring Knick Knack`s); and the sneak preview of the upcoming "The Incredibles".

Conclusion

A winning package for the whole family. Stunningly executed, witty and fresh as sushi...