"There are plenty of in-jokes to keep the adults amused but while casting legends like De Niro and Martin Scorsese, who plays an excitable puffer fish named Sykes, is fun for older chaperones, their names don't mean much to the film's target audience." Vicki Roach THE DAILY TELEGRAPH "...will please kids of all ages." Drew Turney FILMINK "It looks good, and the one-liners are brisk and funny, but the plot and some of the characters are a little unimaginative." Philippa Hawker THE AGE "A terrific soundtrack of pop songs, including the new Missy Elliott-Christina Aguilera single "Carwash", gives the production a contemporary, mainstream edge." Mark Beirne BRISBANE WHAT'S ON "There are numerous morals in this story and various references to other movies, including ‘The Godfather ‘ and ‘The Untouchables’ and it has an upbeat soundtrack, which moulds well with the re-invented ‘Carwash’ by Christina Aguilera and Missy Elliott." Christina Bruce SEARCH SA "Younger children will be attracted by the awesome colours of the reef even though the storyline is really more suitable for audiences aged 9 years and older. There are gags and references galore for the adult audiences who will also have fun recognizing the soundtracks from many other well-known movies (the youngsters will love the reference to Jaws whilst the adults will laugh at Car Wash)." Cécile Ferguson LOLLIPOPSMAGAZINE.COM

"Finding Nemo's premise was universal and its journey epic. The playful banter and cute characterisations were simply the icing on the cake. But Shark Tale, by comparison, has more icing than cake. That said, it still stands head and shoulders above its current competition. If you're happy to turn a blind eye to America's shameless appropriation of the world's natural resources, it's definitely this season's school holiday ticket." Vicki Roach THE DAILY TELEGRAPH "With a minimum of the kind of Disney clag that inevitably ruins an entertaining kids movie (and being from the same stable as Shrek) you can be guaranteed of a good time with lots of laughs, cutting edge animation and brilliant scripting, with characters so on the mark to the dialogue you can hardly believe it’s not really them talking." Drew Turney FILMINK "What the film has going for it, above all, is a very snappy soundtrack - from Elvis to Missy Elliott - that's a constant source of energy." Philippa Hawker THE AGE "At 90 minutes, "Shark Tale" doesn't overstay its welcome. It's an energetic, colourful and zippy movie that succeeds as school holiday entertainment." Mark Beirne BRISBANE WHAT'S ON

At A Glance It's a fishy tale and it's definitely fun. "Shark Tale" is the latest from Dreamworks and while a lot of the humour and the fish talk is a bit adult orientated, there's still enough here to keep the kids entertained. "Shark Tale" is certainly very colourful, visually inviting and the characters are sharp. Voicing the characters is a line best described as the who's who of Hollywood, with one exception. The Australian version features the voice of Tracey Grimshaw, something I found an odd choice. It may have been a sell point for the distributors 'down under', but it doesn't work. It interrupts the flow of the film and the obvious 'aussie' accent doesn't fit the ambience of the films patter at all. But back to that voice list. While there are many of star performers in "Shark Tale" the two big stars are Oscar [a bottom feeding fish who works the local whale wash] featuring the voice of "I, Robot" star Will Smith and Lenny [a great white shark who is a vegetarian] featuring the voice of the star of "The School Of Rock", Jack Black. Oscar and Lenny become close friends and then allies in a plot designed to allow Oscar to become a hero by default and Lenny, the opportunity to find anonymity and start a new life away from his shark mobster father Don Lino, voiced by Hollywood legend and multiple Academy Award winner Robert De Niro. Backing up De Niro's character are three actors who have a film and television 'mobster' connection. There's Michael Imperioli ["The Sopranos"] as Lino's son Frankie; Vincent Pastore ["The Sopranos"] voicing Lino's right hand man, Luca the slippery Octopus and veteran film and television actor Peter Falk ["Made"] voicing Don Brizzi. Connected with Don Lino is Oscar's boss, Sykes [voiced by legendary director and actor Martin Scorsese] a puffer fish with plenty of puff, except when Don Lino is biting at his heels. Sykes is backed by two Rastafarian jelly fish henchmen Bernie [Doug E Doug] and Ernie [Ziggy Marley] who's witty humour is refreshing to say the least. These two characters add another dimension to the humour of "Shark Tale". That leaves just two characters from the lead lineup, and both are female. The first is a lovelorn angel fish named Angie who has a big crush on the fast talking Oscar. Angie is voiced by "Nurse Betty" and "Chicago" star Renée Zellweger. The other female star should prove easy to identify. "Lara Croft" star Angelina Jolie ["Taking Lives"] who voices the beautiful femme fatale dragon fish Lola with great style. Without a doubt these cast members fit snugly into the colorful characters who make up the delightful, wonderful world of "Shark Tale" as does the soundtrack backing the film. Available on the Universal Music label the bouncy soundtrack features Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, The Pussycat Dolls, Sean Paul, Ziggy Marley and more. It's fair to say that the one standout song and the easiest to associate with the film is the Shark Tale Mix , "Car Wash" featuring the talents of Christina Aguilera and Missy Elliott. But "Shark Tale" is more than just colorful characters, bright scenery and a bagfull of laughs for there's a strong moral message here. One I'm sure parents will appreciate and one hopefully, many children will pick up on. Crew Bytes "Shark Tale" was .......
directed by Rob Letterman ["Los Gringos"], Vicky Jenson ["Shrek" and "Family Tree"] and Bibo Bergeron ["The Road to El Dorado"]; screenplay by Rob Letterman, Damian Shannon ["Freddy Vs Jason "], Mark Swift ["Freddy Vs Jason "] and Michael J Wilson ["", "", "Ice Age" and "The Tuxedo"]; production design by Dan St. Pierre ["Tarzan"]; edited by Nick Fletcher ["Balto", "The Prince of Egypt" and "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron"], Peter Lonsdale ["The Rocketeer", "Streets of Rage", "Ripper Man" and "The Jungle Book 2"] John Venzon ["", "Almost Blue", "Double Obsession" and "South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut"]; original music by Hans Zimmer ["Moonlighting", "Prisoner of Rio", "Days of Thunder", "The Lion KIng" and "The Prince of Egypt"] produced by Bill Damaschke ["The Road to El Dorado"], Janet Healy ["1941"] and Allison Lyon Segan ["Speed", "Broken Arrow", "Saving Private Ryan" and "Swimfan"]. Casting About "Shark Tale" stars .......
Will Smith ["Where the Day Takes You", "Independence Day", "Wild Wild West", "Ali" and "I, Robot"]; Robert De Niro ["The Wedding Party", "Taxi Driver", "Goodfellas", "Cape Fear" and "Cop Land"]; Renée Zellweger ["Reality Bites", "Nurse Betty", "Bridget Jones's Diary" and "Cold Mountain"]; Jack Black ["Demolition Man", "Dead Man Walking", "High Fidelity" and "The School of Rock"]; Angelina Jolie ["Lookin' to Get Out", "Hell's Kitchen", "The Bone Collector" and "Girl, Interrupted"]; Martin Scorsese ["Boxcar Bertha", "Taxi Driver", "The King of Comedy" and "Yume"]; Katie Couric ["Austin Powers in Goldmember"]; Doug E Doug ["Jungle Fever", "Dr Giggles", "That Darn Cat" and "Citizen James"]; Michael Imperioli ["Lean on Me", "Goodfellas", "Bad Boys" and "Too Tired to Die"]; James Madio ["Hook", "Every Good Boy", "The Gifted" and "If Tomorrow Comes"]; and Peter Falk ["Pretty Boy Floyd", "The Great Race", "The Cheap Detective" and "Made"] as Don Brizzi. The Story Oscar is a fast talking little fish with big dreams who sees his opportunity to be a real hero, when a shark who is the son of the local shark Mafia leader is killed by a dropped anchor. Oscar takes credit by going around convincing everyone that he is responsible for taking this bad guy out of their underwater society. His so-called heroic deed make him an instant celebrity now known as 'The Sharkslayer'. But Oscar soon finds out that being known as someone who's responsible for killing a member of the Mob has its drawbacks. He's on the hit list of Don Lino. The Verdict "It may not have enough kiddie appeal for some of the little ones and much of the humour, which is adult driven, will certainly go over the heads of most youngsters, so watch out mums and dads if the kids get restless. It's colorful, bright, the songs are great and there's a heap of good natured fun. Don't go looking foR a "Nemo" or "Shrek" and you'll reap a rewarding experience. Parents who wish to indulge themselves a little should get nanna or poppa to take the kids out, while they slip into a 'kids free' theatre and really enjoy the hijinx." The Cast

Will Smith Robert De Niro Renée Zellweger Jack Black Angelina Jolie Martin Scorsese Katie Couric Doug E Doug Peter Falk Tracey Grimshaw Michael Imperioli James Madio Ziggy Marley Vincent Pastore

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Oscar Don Lino Angie Lenny Lola Sykes Katie Current Bernie Don Brizzi Katie Current [Aust] Frankie Vinny Ernie Luca

The Crew Directed by Bibo Bergeron/Vicky Jenson/Rob Letterman Produced by Bill Damaschke/Janet Healy/Allison Lyon Segan Executive Producer Jeffrey Katzenberg Original Music by Hans Zimmer Additional Music by Trevor Morris & Geoff Zanelli Film Editing by Nick Fletcher/Peter Lonsdale/John Venzon Production Design by Dan St Pierre Run Time 90 minutes Rated G [AUST] Copyright ©2004 - DreamWorks Distribution LLC - All Rights Reserved Copyright Protected © 2004 - Impact Internet Services - All Rights Reserved