The Movie Formerly Titled Sharkslayer

For me, it seems like my opinion on movies isn't as simple as it should be. Either you like a movie (Collateral) or you hate a movie (Confessions of A Teenage Drama Queen). That's the way it should be, right? Well, sometimes I don't have a clear cut idea of whether I really like a movie or not.

When I saw I, Robot, I couldn't firmly say that I liked it. It had good parts, but at times, it also felt mediocre. I guess that's the same way I feel about Shark Tale, which I saw on Saturday with Samone.

I did like a lot about the movie. It's gorgeous, for one thing. It's bright and colorful, with easy to distinguish characters. I liked the urban feel of the movie too, with a pretty solid contemporary soundtrack. The voice performances were good. I especially enjoyed Martin Scorsese (who knew he was that funny?), Renee Zellweger, and the rapport between Will Smith and Jack Black. The cast parodied their personas well. Also, the secondary characters were fun. I liked the Rastafarian jellyfish, the crazy crab, and the shrimp (who sounded just like Gingerbread man from Shrek). And I liked the little things. When they showed what the father of Will Smith's character looked like, I laughed harder than almost anything else in the movie.

So, what didn't I like? Well, I think the story was kind of weak. I liked the characters, but there was more that they could've done with them. Take Angelina Jolie's character, for example. She's the gold digging vixen. However, a lot of opportunities for humor (like a fight between her and Renee Zellweger's character) were lost. Her character was seriously underutilized and underdeveloped. The shrimp was more developed (and funnier) than she was. In fact, there was more they could've done with many of the characters. Also, given that the film is clearly making fun of mob movies, why weren't there more references? There are some good ones (like when Will Smith's character recites several movie lines), but there was room for some clever gags at the expense of The Sopranos, The Godfather, and Goodfellas...especially with people from all three in the movie. The story/script of this movie is like a sandwich missing some toppings. The sandwich may be okay, but you know it would've been better if you took the time and added those toppings.

All in all, Shark Tale is not a bad movie, but it feels kind of half-baked compared to the Shrek films (and especially most of Pixar's films). If they spent a little more time on the story and characters, it could've been a very good movie. I can't wait to hear Will Smith do a voice in another animated film. And maybe Angelina Jolie can find a voice role that she can sink her teeth into. In the meantime, I hope Madagascar is better.