Shark Tale

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."

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.

Miami Herald Connie Ogle

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

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.

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.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

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

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.

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.

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.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

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

Newsweek David Ansen

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

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.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

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

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.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

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

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.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

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

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

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

The New York Times Dana Stevens

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

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.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

The story leaves you snoozing with the fishes.

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.

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."

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.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

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

Empire Leslie Felperin

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

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

One soggy, charmless heap of chum.

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.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

This movie just doesn't match its predecessors.

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.

Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar

Joyless, soulless.