Surprisingly enough, the 3D version of FINDING NEMO is remarkably similar to the 2003 masterpiece FINDING NEMO. But like the previously released converted Pixar movies, this transfer is pristine and adds a stunning element to the under-the-ocean views and the... holy shit, wait until you see Marlin and Dory get swallowed by the whale in 3D!!!
OK, sorry. But there are a handful of sequences in FINDING NEMO that look so damn good in 3D, it seems almost critical to see them that way just once. Traveling the East Australian Current with sea turtles (including Crush, voiced by director and co-writer Andrews Stanton) is stunning, and the sequence in which Marlin (Albert Brooks) and Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) are greeted by reformed man-eating sharks (Bruce Spence, Eric Bana and the magnificent Barry Humphries as the Great White Bruce) in an abandoned submarine is both breathtaking and terrifying.
And sometimes you just see an older movie in the theater to remind yourself how much you loved it the first time you saw it. For example, I sometime forget how much I adore the characters Nemo (Alexander Gould) meets in the dentist's aquarium. I think a live-action movie with the likes of Willem Dafoe, Allison Janney, Stephen Root ("Bubbles!"), Brad Garrett and Austin Pendleton would be kind of great, but their animated counterparts are so funny and smart. Add to that Geoffrey Rush's friendly pelican Nigel, and you remember that this is one of Pixar's finest collection of voice actors, second only the TOY STORY films.
But 3D or not, what still gets you every single time is the search and the bond that is formed between a single father and his son with the lucky fin, even though they are apart for most of the movie. FINDING NEMO is a film that celebrates and cherishes the kindness in its characters—Brooks as the neurotic, overprotective dad could not be any better cast, and DeGeneres is so full of goodness, you just want to go out and hug a stranger. Her memory-challenged character is a big blue smile of a creature.
I think the 3D is a great excuse to check out this movie one more time on the big screen; nothing could be finer. Is it necessary? Not really. Is it cool? Oh, yes. And I don't care what anybody says, between this film, WALL*E and JOHN CARTER, co-director Stanton (who made this film with Lee Unkrich) is a hell of a storyteller both as a screenwriter and a director. I hope the reports of him putting together a FINDING NEMO sequel are true.
