'Nemo' an honors graduate among smart fish
Staff , Gainesville Sun
Pixar Animation, the same folks who brought us \
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The Gainesville Sun
Pixar Animation, the same folks who brought us "Monsters Inc." and the "Toy Story" films, has once again outdone itself. The newest creation, the magnificent "Finding Nemo," tops all its previous films in terms of humor, story, depth and animation.

"Finding Nemo" is the best children's film of the year. But, then again, I'm probably not telling you anything you don't already know. "Nemo" set box office records and then set DVD sales and rental records. Anyone who had even the slightest interest in the film has no doubt seen it.

And then Natey-Come-Lately gives his two cents, tantamount to a book critic reviewing the Old Testament ("I found it refreshingly violent and unforgiving.").

For those who have yet to see "Finding Nemo," I suggest you do.

A young clown fish is scooped out of a reef and moved to a fish tank in a dentist's office. His widower father (played with nebbish perfection by Albert Brooks) must venture across the sea, rescue his son and, along the way, have all sorts of wild adventures.

He is joined in his quest by a goofy, forgetful blue tang fish voiced by Ellen Degeneres, who suffers from the same syndrome as Guy Pearce in "Memento." Together, they deal with vegetarian sharks, surfer turtles and hungry seagulls.

And, it turns out, Degeneres makes a much funnier fish than she does a human.

Visually, the film is astonishing. Dozens of seascapes and hundreds of different creatures are all captured with vibrant color and stunning depth.

And the fish are smart. Really smart. Of course, they all speak English, and speaking English makes any animal appear smart. That's a lesson I learned the hard way when my neighbor's dog tried to get me to start a crime wave.

But the fish in "Nemo" have a cleverness I have only seen a few times before in sea life. This is the first time, however, the intelligence was not used for the express purpose of devouring swimmers, oceanographers, or salty sea captains.

"Jaws" is the prototype smart fish. He did not have Nemo's extensive vocabulary, but he had street smarts (or whatever the undersea equivalent is) and a mind for devious strategy that made him King of the Deep Blue for three decades.

"Jaws" is the touching story of a Great White Shark who tries his best to make the resort community of Amity Island his new home. But evil police chief Roy Scheider rallies the community against the shark.

Our forlorn aquatic hero tries his best to fit in by sampling the local cuisine and giving just desserts to some smart-mouthed fishermen who had it coming anyway.

The movie culminates in a game of cat-and-mouse, as a boatload of armed men relentlessly pursue the sad-eyed shark. Will Jaws prevail?

"Jaws" is a classic, one of those movies we don't see very often any more. It relies on its characters and takes time building the suspense, instead of gratuitous special effects. Maybe it isn't as family-friendly as "Nemo," because Jaws has a bad habit of biting people in half and thrashing them into a bloody mess, but the message is just as heartwarming.

Of course, the shark in "Jaws" isn't nearly as smart as the killer whale in "Orca." Orca wants revenge for his baby's mama and stalks the captain of the ship responsible.

And let's not forget "Jaws IV: The Revenge." This shark plots a murderous scheme against Roy Scheider's wife from the original film and stalks her around the globe. Now that is one cagey fish!

But for the smartest fish ever, we have to look to the cheesy 1999 B-movie "Deep Blue Sea."

In "Deep Blue Sea," a scientist has genetically enhanced the brains of three sharks in a state-of-the-art underwater research facility. On the eve of a giant storm (bless those convenient earth-shattering storms) the smart sharks bust out of the crossbar hotel and come looking for a little payback.

You want a smart fish? These have timing and poise. They know just when to jump out in the middle of a scene. They know the structural integrity of the base and how to flood it. They know the actual layout of the underwater structures and herd their victims through the hallways like a pack of sheepdogs.

They also know everyone in the audience wants them to eat Saffron Burrows, so they make her a priority.

Quite possibly one of the best stupid movies ever made, "Deep Blue Sea" is good for a laugh and a couple of gory surprises.

The fish are smart but don't have the same jene se qua as Jaws or the spunky attitude of little Nemo.