A tale of two fish
Fri 24 October 2008
Emma Elliott, Journalism
Shark tale is a tale of two fish, one a small fish in a big sea and the other a cross-dressing vegetarian shark.
The story follows Oscar (Will Smith) as he attempts to move up in the reef to the high market coral, he’s an ideas man who believes that selling bottled water to fish would make him rich.
Oscar lives in a world not too unfamiliar from our own only the taxis, florists, penthouses and billboards are all underwater.
While trying another get rich scheme Oscar inadvertently lands himself in a deathly situation where he meets his co-star Lenny (Jack Black) a shark with no appetite for meat.
Lenny’s brother Frankie is trying to teach Lenny the way of the shark so they can take over dad Don Lino’s (Danny Devito) mafia business when they stumble on Oscar being tortured by hippie jellies.
Basically, Lenny is meant to eat Oscar and instead Frankie ends up sleeping with the fishes; giving Oscar another get-rich-quick idea, to tell the reef that he is a shark slayer with Frankie as proof.
As in every good, and even bad, movie there is a love triangle; Oscar has to choose between best mate Angie (Renee Zellweger) and a gold digger (Angelina Jolie).
Ultimately Oscar is caught out for lying and ends up facing the sharks anyway to get back his true love, yep you guessed it, best mate Angie.
The tale is constantly unfolding and is probably more suited to an audience of ten years and over.
Never before has a shark wanting to be a dolphin, a whale wash, the shark godfather or a sea-horse Melbourne cup race been in the same film.
Movie lovers will appreciate some aspect of the film and while some of the themes are not exactly made for toddlers, the bright lights and very colourful characters are still appealing.
All in all, the movie is fantastic for a break from the constant Disney presence and is an animation similar to Shrek, one that both parents and children can enjoy.
On a scale of 10 this movie would definitely get eight fins.
Image(s) designed by
Enter comments about this article
Submitted Comments
I love your rating system, "eight fins". I am a sucher for children's movies and this is one of my favourite. I love your introduction... "cross-dressing vegetarian shark".
Macaela French
A great article. I have not seen this movie but the plot sounds very exciting and the big name stars playing the characters makes it appealing. I enjoyed Shrek and I will surely find time to watch this one.
Tom Threadingham