Daniel Ross This lame comedy feels like it was written by studio executives, capitalizing on the latest trends. The pop culture references are stale and weak, I mean who was making MC Hammer jokes in 2004? Like Pixar's Cars, the whole idea makes no sense. How are there complicated electronics like video games and TVs working underwater? How do lava lamps work underwater? The endless fish puns are insufferable too (Mussel Crowe? Ha. Ha.) Most of the anthropomorphic character designs of the fish are weird and off putting. And Will Smith's fish protagonist is too thoughtless and uncaring to be sympathetic. Another problem is the tired "Go to the big city story". How many times have we seen this played out trope which has a bumbling but likable hero who has big plans and dreams of going to the big city, or moving up in the world. Flick from Pixar's A Bug's Life wanted to go to bug city and be somebody, Rodney from 2005's Robots wanted to go to Robot City and be an inventor. And here we have Will Smith fish, who wants to be a somebody. The actual dialogue is "I'm a small fish in a big ocean". How lazy can you get?The positives? Some of the music is cool, the animation is OK, and I liked Martin Scorsese as a puffer fish, he actually makes this tolerable to sit through. Apart from that, this stinks like decomposing cod.

Python Hyena Shark Tale (2004): Dir: Vicky Jenson, Bibo Bergeron, Rob Letterman / Voices: Will Smith, Jack Black, Renee Zellweger, Robert De Niro, Angelina Jolie: Computer generated washout about deception. Lenny is the young shark whose father heads the underwater mafia but he is secretly vegetarian. Oscar is a small fish who works at the whale wash where he dreams of stardom, which comes his way when he takes credit for slaying Lenny's brother who was really killed by a lowered anchor. Bland storytelling with a ridiculous finale that forgets that sharks are natural predators. Directors Vicky Jenson, Bibo Bergeron and Rob Letterman are aided by spectacular images that nearly save the film but cannot overturn idiotic storytelling. Will Smith voices Oscar, the small fish destine for greater things. Jack Black voices Lenny whose vegetarian ways provide some humour. Other roles are merely celebrity character based. Renee Zellweger voices the standard female fish love interest, and Robert De Niro voices Lenny's mafia based father who would prefer that his son act like a real shark. Angelina Jolie plays a seductive female fish whom Oscar becomes distracted with. Its references to The Godfather and Jaws are likely to go right over the heads of the target audience, while adult likely should be watching those films to begin with. In the end it seems purposed only as a disciple of the superior Finding Nemo. Score: 4 / 10

eragonbookfan (NOTE: I'm a white guy from Japan, born and raised. And I loved this movie! Don't try a stereotype it saying only those in the "black crowd" like it, especially because it has Will Smith. lol wut???)Oh, and the the Nostalgia Critic is wrong, for being way too biased about this. I LIKE this film! Because it RULES! It's funny, it's creative, and it's cool & has effort! It ain't no "masterpiece", but it's not "bad" either! What do you expect from DreamWorks??? Don't put too much pressure on them! And Oscar the fish?? I never found him ugly! He does have a big mouth though. lulzBeing 12 when I first saw this, MAN, did I get a kick out of it! Though understand, "nostalgic" doesn't mean "better" - it just means you're more attached to it. But on it's own, I believe it still holds up to this day! And I think it DOESN'T deserve to get a majority of the hate it's been getting for who knows who. It really seems like films have the tendency to be overrated or either underrated, unfairly hated or unfairly loved these days - c'mon, all the hate on this film should be re-directed at something else; like "Never Cry Wolf", a horrid film that should NOT be called a "Disney" film.Moving way back, I give CREDIT to this animated film for INTRODUCING me to many big Hollywood names! Yeah, most of them I didn't really know at the time! I guess it's the cool thing about kid's films - famous names should at SOMETIME make their introduction to the minors in the audience! You name it! Whether it'd be Will Smith, Robert De Niro, Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Renée Zellweger, or Martin Scorsese (despite his putrid films that seem to glorify horrific behavior). And to this day,the fish LOOKING like the celebrities they're being voiced by! And all the jokes in the film worked too, especially the in-jokes.Honestly, I've NEVER found this movie to be a "rip-off" of "Finding Nemo" - I like any film about the ocean, as long as they're done RIGHT & tell a good story. And I think that's what this movie does; movies like this strike a chord within all of us! I do think it's a relatable film, even though all the main characters are fish. lol. Both grownups and kids can both equally enjoy this - it's a great feel-good movie, with decent animation, with even some good lessons in it, especially about honesty & family.And the soundtrack is unbelievably good, too - timeless & catchy, I've got a bunch of the songs on my iPod, not just for nostalgia sake, but because they're COOL! "Car Wash", "Got To Be Real", or "Get It Together," they're all so awesome!In the end, I'm glad this film exists, and I recommend every family to own a copy of it!8/10

Just-Being-Me I personally think this is a good movie, yes there are better animated movies out there but i still think this movie deserves more than a 6.0 as an overall rating. It is a great family movie.I enjoyed this movie years ago and still enjoy watching it now, i think it is very funny for an animated movie, and i am sure many people will think the same. It has some great actors / actresses doing the voices for the characters. I would recommend this movie if you are a big animation fan. It has good music too. I also like the story line, sweet...Well worth a 7 / 10... maybe even more.