Cobb

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October 03, 2004

Obligatory Seriousness About Shark Tale

If I were over 25 and in the hiphop business, I would be embarassed by Shark Tale. In fact, there's a fish in there that I know is Missy Elliot and I know she's going to go uncredited. Quite frankly, I think Osmosis Jones will stand the test of time a little bit better.

This is not a classy flick. It's a silly flick, but it does have enough genuine emotion to make you care a little, enough comic timing to make you laugh a little and enough stereotypes and product placements to make you puke a little. Is it worth the money? Yeah sorta. It doesn't stink.

It starts out of the blocks entirely too predictably and feels like its about to self-destruct within 10 minutes, and then it saves itself. On the other hand, if you're the kind of person who thinks Will Smith is a complete punk, then you really don't want to face this movie. It thankfully doesn't try to double-entendre its way into parents hearts. On the other hand, boy does the music suck.

OK here's the analogy. A duplicate of a ripoff of a cover of a print of a sample of a song that's been done to death. It's like somebody trying to funkify a New Kids on the Block ripoff of a Motown song - without having ever heard the Motown song. It's really a twilight zone. Or better yet why don't I just give you a real example: Will Smith doing MC Hammer. Nuff said. Kids under 15 won't know the difference. You will and you will wince your eyes out of your socket. Then again, your kid is having a ball. So get over yourself.

Since I did a fair share of wincing, I can see how folks from the uplifting black images school are going to have a handwringing time over this film, which is why this one goes into the obligatory seriousness column. It's no Soul Plane, but it aint Sounder either. And since I'm 43 years old, it feels completely like a black and Italian movie straight outta Brooklyn. Everybody can say it's just fish, but it aint. So half the time I'm thinking about people who complain about the Sopranos and I wonder if they are as embarrassed about the Italian types as my father would be about the black types. I don't know the answer to that question, but since everybody (I predict) is going to go apeshit over the black thing, we'll never find out.

I don't know if being thick skinned is a blessing or a curse, especially since I am sensitively observant and I see these things. But I'll give a big whatever to that, and suggest as I usually do that there are a hundred worse movie (many of whom star Humphrey Bogart as my Tivo showed me last night "All Through The Night") and a hundred better books.

I'm sure I could have spent my 42 bucks more wisely, but it would have required me to spend more mental and physical energy this weekend, and I simply don't have it. Besides, the kids enjoyed themselves.

Posted by mbowen at October 3, 2004 06:00 PM

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� BEFORE YOU TAKE YOUR KIDS TO SEE SHARK TALE... from Michelle Malkin
...make sure you read this article about the hard-core rappers who were given major musical roles in the animated movie, including Ludacris and Eminem proteges D12. In case you were unfamiliar with D12, here are the vile lyrics to one... [Read More]

Tracked on October 5, 2004 12:29 PM

� The Controversy that is Shark Tale from Backcountry Conservative
What do Michelle Malkin, Cobb, and Ambra Nykol all share in common? They all have issues with the new animated movie from DreamWorks, Shark Tale. Let me (Chris Short) first state that I'm 24, my wife is 26, and my... [Read More]

Tracked on October 5, 2004 05:34 PM

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d2525310e6bd59627f5ae2199024306c 0c. [Read More]

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Comments

Posted by: avery at October 7, 2004 12:39 AM