There are several animated movies that I was addicted to as a kid. These include Shrek, Cars, Monsters, Inc. and several others. Another one of those movies I was obsessed with was Shark Tale. I remember this movie being entertaining simply because it involved sea creatures throughout the entire film, which I loved. I feel like a good amount of this movie is burned into my mind because I used to watch it so much. I wanted to review this movie because I haven’t seen it in a few years.

Going in, I knew some of what was to come, but keep in mind that I haven’t seen this movie in years. Doing some research, I was surprised by the cast of this movie. It features several big names in Hollywood, such as Will Smith, Jack Black, Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, and several others. These actors all do a solid job of portraying their characters, which brings me to something I have not mentioned yet, all the characters are fish. This movie takes place under the sea, similar to Finding Nemo, another movie that came out just over a year before Shark Tale.

This movie was honestly funnier than I remember it being. this could just be because I am older now and I understand what is going on a little bit more. I thought some of the jokes and references were very clever, most of which I didn’t pick up on as a kid.

The plot of this movie is also pretty solid. Oscar, a poor fish who works at a car wash, wants nothing more than to be rich and famous. When a shark named Frankie  is accidentally killed, he takes credit for it, claiming to be a “shark slayer”. Of course, this shocks everyone else in the Southside Reef, where Oscar lives. Everyone in the city celebrates Oscar’s “bravery”, and he is finally rich, like he has always wanted.

Meanwhile, at Frankie’s funeral, his father, Don Lino, wants to find out who killed his son. He, along with his other son, Lenny, go out to find the “shark slayer”. Don Lino is basically a mob boss, and Frankie was a killer just like his father. Lenny, on the other hand, wants nothing to do with this lifestyle, he is not a killer like his father and brother.

The sharks come to the reef, which sends everyone into a frenzy, including Oscar. However, Oscar is forced to be brave because he claims to be a fearless killer. Of course, Oscar is no shark slayer, so he has no idea what to do. Eventually, Oscar and Lenny end of coming together, because Lenny doesn’t want to hurt anything.

I think the reason I loved this movie so much as a kid is the design and uniqueness of it, as well as the music and fun characters. It also has a pretty interesting story for a movie meant for young kids. I think this movie is underrated, maybe that’s just personal preference because of nostalgia, but I think this is one of the better kids movies out there.