Friday, October 01, 2004
Review of Shark Tale, starring Will Smith
Boston.com / A&E / Movies / Search / Movie details / Shark Tale: "No, kid, it's not -- it's 'Finding Nemo' gutted of all its charm and remixed for urban hit radio. 'Shark Tale' is a film calculated to give us a good time, and it's the calculation that spoils the fun. Where 'Nemo' was clever, soulful, and marvelous to look at, 'Tale' is manic and surprisingly ugly, with a script that leans on the shallowest aspects of hip-hop street cred while pimping for corporate product placement at every turn. Yes, your children will probably enjoy it, but do you really want to feed them more of the throwaway crud culture they get every single day?
The setting's an ocean reef made over to look like a submerged Times Square, complete with a red-and-white 'Coral Cola' billboard and live news feed featuring Katie Current (voiced by Katie Couric). Will Smith lends his rubbery vocal talents to the role of Oscar, a lowly employee at a whale-wash run by a pufferfish named Sykes (filmmaker Martin Scorsese, dithering amusingly). A schemer who dreams of making it rich and living in gold-chained glory 'at the top of the reef,' Oscar is too starry-eyed to see that fellow employee Angie (Renee Zellweger) is in love with him."
The setting's an ocean reef made over to look like a submerged Times Square, complete with a red-and-white 'Coral Cola' billboard and live news feed featuring Katie Current (voiced by Katie Couric). Will Smith lends his rubbery vocal talents to the role of Oscar, a lowly employee at a whale-wash run by a pufferfish named Sykes (filmmaker Martin Scorsese, dithering amusingly). A schemer who dreams of making it rich and living in gold-chained glory 'at the top of the reef,' Oscar is too starry-eyed to see that fellow employee Angie (Renee Zellweger) is in love with him."
