Finding Nemo (2003)

(In theaters, June 2003) Pixar seldom misses its target, and they succeed once again with Finding Nemo, an irreproachable animated feature aimed at kids but appropriate for adults. Once again, everything is top-notch: The animation is spectacular, the script is pure gold, the characters are sharply defined (Who doesn’t love surfer-turtle Crush? “We were like ‘Woah!’ and you were like ‘Woah!’ and I was like ‘Woah.’”) and the direction takes advantage of the possibilities of CGI while remaining firmly grounded in real-world conventions. You already know you’re going to see it and you already know you’re going to like it; why should I even spend more time discussing it? The only serious complaint I’ve got is that in their quest to please Disney, Pixar has released their most Disney-like (and their weakest) effort to date. Even the bad old clichés hold true, with the mother of the protagonist dying a horrible death in the prologue (c’mon; this was tired even in Bambi‘s time!) Oh well; it’s still better than most of the other films you’ll see this year.