FINDING NEMO REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

A clown fish named Marlin (voiced by Albert Brooks) lives in the Great Barrier Reef loses his son, Nemo (Alexander Gould). After he ventures into the open sea, despite his father's constant warnings about many of the ocean's dangers. Nemo is abducted by a boat and netted up and sent to a dentist's office in Sydney. So, while Marlin ventures off to try to retrieve Nemo, Marlin meets a fish named Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), a blue tang suffering from short-term memory loss. The companions travel a great distance, encountering various dangerous sea creatures such as sharks, anglerfish and jellyfish, in order to rescue Nemo from the dentist's office, which is situated by Sydney Harbor. While the two are doing this, Nemo and the other sea animals in the dentist's fish tank plot a way to return to Sydney Harbor to live their lives free again.

Pixar is known for its thematic content and there's no change here. The issues of how a parents' natural protective instinct can drive away a child and of how a child, no matter how desperate they want independence, still needing its family are identified here. However, it's not presented in a heavy handed manner. It's rather offered in a way that even the youngest viewer will be able to understand what the main message of the film is which is that a parent will do anything for their child. Another message featured within the film is the importance of diversity and harmony. This is shown through other sea creatures helping out Marlin in the search for his son by passing on the story of his journey.

Most Pixar films are successful at making us feel all kinds of emotions. In the opening sequence, we meet Marlin and his wife, Coral (Elizabeth Perkins), who are eagerly awaiting the arrival of their children. Unfortunately, tragedy strikes and Marlin is left with only one baby fish. We immediately feel sympathy for him and we understand why he is so overprotective of his only son, Nemo. Fortunately, this isn't a depressing film. The film lightens up when Dory enters the scene. DeGeneres makes Dory her own and one of the most memorable characters in animated history. Recognisable names like Willem Dafoe, Allison Janney, Geoffrey Rush and the director himself, Andrew Stanton, provide voices for other characters.

The animation in this film is stunning. It is set under the sea in Sydney, Australia and shows the beauty of it. We see fishes and sea creatures of all kinds. This is probably the closet I'll ever come to seeing the depths of the ocean but I'm happy with that.

There a lot of people who think animated films are just for children but this isn't necessarily true. This film will connect with families of all ages: young children will enjoy the animated characters, especially Dory; teenagers will be able to relate Nemo who finds his Dad embarrassing and wants to hang out with the 'cool' and 'rebellious' fish and adults will find the story both relatable and heartwarming. 

Overall, Finding Nemo proves to be one of Pixar's most beloved films because of its stunning animation and thematic content.

8/10