Five Reasons You Should Shell Out for ‘Finding Nemo 3D’

Why it’s worth your whale to pay 3D prices for a return visit under the sea with Dory, Marlin and the whole fishy gang

Disney continues to plumb the depths of its vaults for more movies to reissue, and they’re going to make a fat stack of doubloons from this weekend’s “Finding Nemo 3D.” Is it worth your time and money to slap on the glasses? Here’s why you might take the plunge:
 

1. There’s a new Pixar short attached

The “Toy Story” gang returns in “Partysaurus Rex,” in which the timid Tyrannosaur (voiced by Wallace Shawn) lets his freak flag fly when he finds himself hanging out with the bathtub toys for a change. Before long, he’s at the helm of a full-on rave, complete with an oontz-oontz-oontz soundtrack from electronic whiz BT.

2. Swimming is the new flying

When you remember some of the greatest moments in 3D movies, they’re about the wonder of soaring — just think about the flying sequences in films like “Avatar” and “How to Train Your Dragon.” In “Finding Nemo,” the same logic applies, only underwater rather than in midair. Whether our heroes are surfing the East Australian Current with a bale of turtles or trampolining their way through a bloom of jellyfish, the third dimension adds a whole new level of exhilaration.

3. The comedic styles of Brooks and DeGeneres

Actors rarely get their due for animated voice-work — there has yet to be a single Oscar nomination for this particular line of duty — but Ellen DeGeneres and Albert Brooks make a great comic duo here, even though we never see them. Her ditzy Dory and his grouchy, fearful Marlin generate real chemistry, and it’s a constant delight to watch these two opposites bounce off each other. “Finding Nemo” features a consistently dazzling cast — second bananafish include Willem Dafoe, Allison Janney, Austin Pendleton and Geoffrey Rush — but it’s the bickering yet ultimately mutually supportive duo at the helm that makes this adventure-comedy so memorable.

4. The deep blue sea requires depth of field

Many films that are designed to be in 3D offer lots of audience-directed gimmicks, with swords and cannonballs and what have you aimed at the camera lens so we’ll duck away from the thing that seems to be flying toward our faces. “Nemo” offers maybe one or two such moments, but as a post-conversion 3D movie, it instead allows the z-axis to more fully capture the seemingly infinite expanse of the undersea world. When Nemo swims away from the safety of his father out towards the big, bad open water, 3D makes the space seem even more forbidding and dangerous.

5. You are a hostage to your children

Your kids love this movie. Your kids have watched the DVD countless times. Your kids have seen the ads for this 3D reissue for the last several months. You can’t fight the tide.

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