Everybody's a critic - 'Finding Nemo'

Three stars (out of four)

"Finding Nemo" is a charming children's movie. The CGI animation was done by Pixar, whose films include "Toy Story" and "Monsters, Inc." It has your simple get-back-the-kidnapped-child plot but with a twist.

Every main character is an aquatic animal. The story's main characters include Nemo, the young clownfish; Marlin, Nemo's father; and Dory, a forgetful fish who follows Marlin. Like all Disney movies, there is adventure, comedy and a dash of Disney drama. Marlin goes through many adventures including meeting a group of sharks, surfing in a current and being eaten.

Nemo's side of the story takes place in a fish tank with a group of fish who are all trying to escape.

The movie is really well done, but if you don't like children's movies you will probably want to stay at home because most of the humor is child-oriented.

- Chris Eddleman, Notre Dame Regional High School student

Four stars (out of four)

Pixar has done it again. "Finding Nemo" is not only an amazing CGI movie, but also a great story. Nemo is a clownfish who is captured on his first day of "fish" school and put into an aquarium in a dentist's office. Marlin, his father (voiced by Albert Brooks), begins the journey to find his son. Along the way, Marlin befriends Dory (Ellen Degeneres), some surfer sea turtles and meets a Great White shark that doesn't eat fish. Meanwhile, Nemo tries to escape the aquarium with the aid of the fish in the tank.

Having Brooks voice Marlin was a great choice. His natural paranoia plays well as an over-protective father. There is a touching scene when Nemo hears of his father trying to find him and having to fight hungry sharks.

This is a visually detailed movie that is a very simple story of a parent's love for his child.

- Theresia Shrum

Four stars (out of four)

Pixar has done it again. "Finding Nemo" is a complete triumph -- one of the most incredible animated films I have ever seen. The water, the movement of the creatures and the plant life are so real you feel as if you are in the ocean (I felt all prunie when I left).

The plot is classic. Marlin, the clownfish, tragically loses his wife and most of his family and is left to care for his son, Nemo. Marlin is predictably overprotective of his son, but on the first day of school Nemo is captured by divers, and the adventure begins.

Albert Brooks plays the neurotic father to a T. Ellen Degeneres plays the memory-challenged fish, Dory, and is hilarious.

We took our 11-year-old and our 2-year-old. It held both of their attentions, and they both loved it.

- Eric Shrum, operations manager