Finding Nemo  海底总动员

Those busy, witty (clever and funny) computer minds at Pixar have made toys walk, bugs talk and monsters rock. So what's the next challenge? Doing it underwater?
OK, now they are just showing off.

From the pink jellyfish meadow to a creepy(making you feel nervous and slightly frightened) sunken(lying at the bottom of the ocean) submarine, the computer graphics in "Finding Nemo" make "The Little Mermaid" look like a coloring book.

The visuals pop, the fish emote and the ocean comes alive. That's in the first two minutes. After that, they do some really cool stuff.

With the track record of "Toy Story" (the first and second), "A Bug's Life" and "Monsters, Inc.," Pixar has the kid-vid genre (a particular style used in film) wired. There's a familiar appearance to Pixar characters -- oversize eyes, chubby cheeks -- but their real secret lies in their smart-aleck(someone who says clever or funny but rude things that annoy other people because they show a lack of respect) souls. A Disney movie like "Treasure Planet" may have the look of an oil painting, but leave it to Pixar to work in a G-rated joke about breaking wind.

Now, fair warning should be given that, although director-writer Andrew Stanton gets full marks for avoiding an overdose of the cute and adorable in "Finding Nemo," younger kids may find at least one plot development unsettling.

Right off the bat Stanton pulls a "Bambi," when a fishy mom disappears after a scary barracuda attack. She's not coming back, either, despite wails of "Where'd the mommy go?" from youngsters in the audience.

If that little jolt can be overcome, almost everything else is giddy, kiddy fun. Even that scary, toothy shark you see in the ads is a good guy. Turns out he's in a 12-step program to curb his addiction to fish.

The core of the story is voiced by Albert Brooks as Marlin (why he has the name of another fish is never explained), the overprotective father of Nemo, a cute little clown fish with one undersize flipper. (No explanation either of why he shares his name with Captain Nemo of the Jules Verne classic "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.") After the tragic accident at the start of the movie, Marlin is afraid to let Nemo out of his sight. His son, of course, rebels and swims into danger. When Nemo is captured, Marlin has to put aside his fears and swim all the way to Sydney Harbor to try to save him.

Pixar pics are clearly the hip spot to appear -- "Put Scorsese on hold, I've got to get that pelican role" -- and since all of its previous efforts have made hundreds of millions of dollars, the pay probably isn't bad, either.

As usual in the Pixar formula, the plot (series of related events that make up the main story in movie) is chock-full of narrow escapes and last-second heroics. But more than anything, it looks as if the filmmakers are having fun. Stanton had the weight of this underwater world on his shoulders, but he took the time to provide the dreamy, surfer/stoner voice of a sea turtle.

And then there are the little attentions to detail that make all the difference. The horrible little girl who wants to make Nemo her pet looks just like Chucky the slasher(a horror movie in which there is a lot of blood and violence) puppet -- with braces. And the greedy, single-minded seagulls ask just one question, over and over -- "Mine? Mine?" You'll think of it every time you hear a seagull caw. . Kids may be upset when one of the fish moms disappears; exciting chase scenes.

Recommendation: Made by Pixar, made in Hollywood. Come on my dude. It’s time to enjoy our childhood again.