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Shark Tale

EMAILPRINTDreamWorks Distribution LLC

Shark Tale reviews
48
5.3 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 36 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 43 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Animation  |  Comedy

Written by: Rob Letterman
Damian Shannon
Mark Swift
Michael J. Wilson

Directed by: Bibo Bergeron
Vicky Jenson
Rob Letterman

Release Date:
Theatrical: October 1, 2004
DVD: February 8, 2005

Running Time: 93 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: PG for some mild language and crude humor

Starring Will Smith, Robert De Niro, Renée Zellweger, Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Martin Scorsese, Doug E. Doug, and Ziggy Marley

Oscar is a fast-talking little fish whose big dreams have a habit of landing him in hot water. Lenny is a great white shark with a sensitive side and a secret -- he's a vegetarian. When a great white lie turns Oscar into an improbable hero and the truth about Lenny makes him an outcast, the two become the most unlikely of friends. (DreamWorks)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

88

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Represents solid family entertainment, and will find a special place in the hearts of those who adore the "Godfather" movies and the TV series "The Sopranos."

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88

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

By riffing off two iconic American narratives of the last 35 years, "The Godfather" and "The Sopranos," it has changed the template for animation, making a timely film that still deals with timeless children's themes.

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75

Miami Herald Connie Ogle

What Shark Tale lacks in originality it makes up for with sassy humor, bright, effective animation and terrific vocal work.

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75

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Not wildly imaginative, and it has a tepid mix of movie references. But the physical environment and characters make it irresistible.

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75

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

By avoiding the usual animation cliches, by keeping the story moving, the pictures pretty and the characters consistently amusing, director and co- writer Rob Letterman cobbles together an entertaining 90 minutes.

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75

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

Boasts a really spectacular cast to voice those reasonably funny jokes.

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70

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

This dazzling CGI feature by DreamWorks Animation appropriates the vivid undersea psychedelia of "Finding Nemo," though in contrast to that movie, the father-son parable here is just an excuse to burlesque "The Godfather" for the 100th time.

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63

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

Shark Tale is "Finding Nemo" with bigger-name stars, far less heart and, the guess here is, about one-third the staying power.

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63

USA Today Claudia Puig

Story is everything and Shark's is rather thin and soupy, despite the winning improvisational skills of stars Will Smith and Jack Black.

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60

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

Comes off as an overly jokey but often quite entertaining spoof that should please families everywhere.

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60

Newsweek David Ansen

Full of invention, but under the colorful icing is a slightly stale cake.

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60

Variety Todd McCarthy

With the combination of mobster characters and heavily R&B, hip-hop and disco/soul tune orientation of the soundtrack, pic has a more streetwise feel than most animated fare, which is not to say that it has street smarts.

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58

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

The noisiest laughs in this watery animated comedy are reserved for those who value self-referential winks above all else.

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58

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

Noisy, garish, cluttered, simplistic and often dark in content, it nevertheless sings and preens and jokes and tugs at you with such persistent verve that, exhausted, you give in.

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58

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

It's overblown and greedy and feels like more of a merchandizing scheme than a movie.

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50

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

Where Finding Nemo suggested that under-the-waves adventure was limitless, Shark Tale suggests that this sea is over-fished. The krill is gone.

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50

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

The movie lacks a port of entry for young viewers -- a character they can identify with. All of the major characters are adults with adult problems like debt, romance, and running (or swimming away from) the mob.

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50

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

Though Shark Tale will make waves at the multiplexes and move a lot of plastic toys at Burger King, the movie lacks real heart. It feels like a cold-blooded, always moving, profit-making machine.

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50

Time Richard Corliss

The film has a hectic, sitcom air and a full-of-himself hero who is as likely to grate as to ingratiate.

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50

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

It does not have as much invigorating freshness as audiences have come to expect in computer animation.

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50

Premiere Peter Debruge

If you were hoping to find another "Nemo," you're likely to be let down by this insincere and borderline unpleasant alternative.

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50

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

It's stale, like something you wrap in yesterday's newspaper.

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50

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

The screenplay isn't remotely as funny as it tries to be, and the visual style is equally unexciting.

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50

The New York Times Dana Stevens

Reasonably good fun, even if, in the end, it's not really very interesting.

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40

Dallas Observer Robert Wilonsky

It's stunning, really, to consider how much time and expense went into something so chintzy and dull--a script full of non sequiturs shouted by a screen full of chum.

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40

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

The story leaves you snoozing with the fishes.

40

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

Falls prey to the lazy assumption that a parade of whiz-bang CGI will cover for the absence of a muscular story.

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40

Village Voice Ed Park

Shark Tale's shallow plot and leagues of padding put it fully in the shadow of last year's animated underwater offering, the nifty, heartfelt "Finding Nemo."

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40

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Every single joke, character detail, music montage, and pop-culture reference looks extensively market-tested, whether via screenings, focus groups, or other box-office successes.

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40

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

There’s a surprising lack of surprises in DreamWorks’ answer to Disney/Pixar’s runaway smash "Finding Nemo."

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40

Empire Leslie Felperin

Although the vocal performances often amuse and delight, the overall design is charmless.

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40

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

One soggy, charmless heap of chum.

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38

Boston Globe Ty Burr

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.

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30

Washington Post Desson Thomson

This movie just doesn't match its predecessors.

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25

New York Post Lou Lumenick

A shipwreck. They say a dead fish stinks from the head first - but the animated shipwreck Shark Tale arrives reeking all over.

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20

Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar

Joyless, soulless.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 5.3 (out of 10) based on 43 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Elliott W gave it a4:
A mediocre film. All of it seems very uninspired and boring. Dreamworks got it right with Shrek and Madasgcar, but they failed here.

[Anonymous] gave it a0:
I'm not even gonna sugar-coat it. This has gotta be one of the worst movies I've seen in the last eight years. I hate this movie. Now I never wanna here the song Carwash ever again. This is the most retarded film since Barney's First Movie, and that was just terrible. This is the first time I've ever had a problem with Will Smith or Angelina Jolie. And why would such a big-name actor/director/writer like Martin Scorsese sign on to such a souless, terrible piece of crap? This movie's script make Eragon seem like Shakespeare. The story was as thin as a slice of pizza. Stupid jokes that make no sense and had no reason to be heard. I was wonder what I would give it. 1? 2? But I had to focus on the ending, and that sucked just as much as the rest of the film. If anyone recommends this to you and you see it, I wouldn't speak to them in a long time.

Todd gave it a2:
It isn't Pixar. It is Dreamworks. Pixar couldn't produce such crap even if they tried.

patrick d. gave it a6:
The most un-original of all Pixar films. To much refenences to pop-culture.

Jon P. gave it a1:
Very disappointing! I turned it off half way through. Jokes were stale, and storyline was weak. They studio crapped this out quickly to ride on the coat tails of Finding Nemo.

Angie G. gave it a5:
Very average movie on every level.

Beverly B. gave it a9:
I enjoyed watching it with my grandchildren. We have watched it three time so far and I'm sure we'll watch it many more times.

Read more user comments >

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