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Shark Tale
Metascore
48 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 36 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 36
  2. Mixed: 23 out of 36
  3. Negative: 4 out of 36
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  1. ReelViews
    Reviewed by: James Berardinelli
    88
    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."
  2. Charlotte Observer
    Reviewed by: Lawrence Toppman
    88
    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.
  3. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    75
    Boasts a really spectacular cast to voice those reasonably funny jokes.
  4. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Connie Ogle
    75
    What Shark Tale lacks in originality it makes up for with sassy humor, bright, effective animation and terrific vocal work.
  5. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jack Mathews
    75
    Not wildly imaginative, and it has a tepid mix of movie references. But the physical environment and characters make it irresistible.
  6. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Mick LaSalle
    75
    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.
  7. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: J.R. Jones
    70
    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.
  8. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    63
    Story is everything and Shark's is rather thin and soupy, despite the winning improvisational skills of stars Will Smith and Jack Black.
  9. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Chris Kaltenbach
    63
    Shark Tale is "Finding Nemo" with bigger-name stars, far less heart and, the guess here is, about one-third the staying power.
  10. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Kirk Honeycutt
    60
    Comes off as an overly jokey but often quite entertaining spoof that should please families everywhere.
  11. Newsweek
    Reviewed by: David Ansen
    60
    Full of invention, but under the colorful icing is a slightly stale cake.
  12. Variety
    Reviewed by: Todd McCarthy
    60
    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.
  13. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    58
    The noisiest laughs in this watery animated comedy are reserved for those who value self-referential winks above all else.
  14. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Shawn Levy
    58
    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.
  15. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: William Arnold
    58
    It's overblown and greedy and feels like more of a merchandizing scheme than a movie.
  16. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    50
    It's stale, like something you wrap in yesterday's newspaper.
  17. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    50
    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.
  18. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    50
    The screenplay isn't remotely as funny as it tries to be, and the visual style is equally unexciting.
  19. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Carrie Rickey
    50
    Where Finding Nemo suggested that under-the-waves adventure was limitless, Shark Tale suggests that this sea is over-fished. The krill is gone.
  20. Premiere
    Reviewed by: Peter Debruge
    50
    If you were hoping to find another "Nemo," you're likely to be let down by this insincere and borderline unpleasant alternative.
  21. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Liam Lacey
    50
    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.
  22. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kenneth Turan
    50
    It does not have as much invigorating freshness as audiences have come to expect in computer animation.
  23. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Dana Stevens
    50
    Reasonably good fun, even if, in the end, it's not really very interesting.
  24. Time
    Reviewed by: Richard Corliss
    50
    The film has a hectic, sitcom air and a full-of-himself hero who is as likely to grate as to ingratiate.
  25. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Maitland McDonagh
    40
    One soggy, charmless heap of chum.
  26. Empire
    Reviewed by: Leslie Felperin
    40
    Although the vocal performances often amuse and delight, the overall design is charmless.
  27. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marc Savlov
    40
    There’s a surprising lack of surprises in DreamWorks’ answer to Disney/Pixar’s runaway smash "Finding Nemo."
  28. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Ella Taylor
    40
    Falls prey to the lazy assumption that a parade of whiz-bang CGI will cover for the absence of a muscular story.
  29. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Scott Tobias
    40
    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.
  30. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Ed Park
    40
    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."
  31. Dallas Observer
    Reviewed by: Robert Wilonsky
    40
    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.
  32. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Joe Morgenstern
    40
    The story leaves you snoozing with the fishes.
    All this critic's reviews
  33. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    38
    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.
  34. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    30
    This movie just doesn't match its predecessors.
  35. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    25
    A shipwreck. They say a dead fish stinks from the head first - but the animated shipwreck Shark Tale arrives reeking all over.
  36. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Pete Vonder Haar
    20
    Joyless, soulless.
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User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
5.1 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 67 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 40
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 40
  3. Negative: 21 out of 40
  1. Treblotski
    4
    Watchable, but with side effects.
  2. grandpajoe6191
    4
    Despite a ensemble 'voice' cast, "Shark Tale" is a normal Dream works animation with the obvious hero path formula intended to scrap money out of the audience.… Full Review »
  3. Todd
    2
    It isn't Pixar. It is Dreamworks. Pixar couldn't produce such crap even if they tried.
See all user reviews »