finding nemo 3D

I'm not a huge fan of 3D movies, as the glasses always make me feel as if I'm seeing the movie through a mist — and I love bright colors, so don't like to see them dulled down. But the kid loves Finding Nemo, and I  wanted to see it on a big screen — I've only seen it on T.V., as it came out the year before my daughter was born. If I had my druthers, we probably would have caught a 2D show, but somehow the theater was only running one 2D showing, and the all the other nine times it was playing were 3D shows. Fancy that. The triumph of marketing.

Marlin cautions Dory about the pretty (dangerous) jellyfish

3D aside, the movie is as delightful as I remember it. Ellen Degeneres of course steals the show as Dory, the memory-challenged blue fish who helps overprotective Marlin (Albert Brooks) search for his son Nemo in the huge blue ocean. Brooks was also wonderful as the afraid-of-the-world clown fish, and other great voice work is contributed by Willem Dafoe, Brad Garrett, Geoffrey Rush, and many others. I had forgotten the subplot of Nemo's little fin. He needs to prove to his dad and himself that his "disability" doesn't stop him from accomplishing whatever he needs to do. It's mostly sweet, sometimes a bit scary (Bruce the shark) and frequently very funny, with silly bits like the seagulls ("Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!) and dirty fish tank humor — that is, the tank is dirty, not the humor.

As far as the 3D adaptation is concerned — yes, I had to come back to that — like the recent re-release of The Lion King, the 3D doesn't seem to add all that much to the movie. It doesn't harm it, either, but if you can catch a 2D showing, it will still be worth your while.

Finding Nemo is great on a large screen. And the bonus Toy Story opening cartoon, Partysaurus Rex, featuring Wallace Shawn, is a lot of fun, too.

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