The Reef Review

The Reef


Release Date: 19th June 2008 - Australia (DVD) 


Production Companies
Wonderworld Studios

Digi Art
Silver Nitrate
Sovik Fund
FX Digital

Distribution
Roadshow Distribution


Genre: Animation/Family

Rating: G

Runtime: 77 minutes


Budget: $10,000,000

Box Office Gross: $13,662,815
(Worldwide) 


Plot Summary
When Pi, an ordinary fish from Boston, arrives at the exotic reef to live with his Aunt Pearl, he meets and fells for Cordelia, the fish of his dreams.

The problem is that Troy, the meanest shark in the ocean, not only keeps the reef community in constant fear of becoming shark bait, but also has his eye on Cordelia, and 

doesn't want any competition.

Now, Pi must band together with his new group of friends in order to outwit Troy and his henchmen, save the reef and win the heart of Cordelia.


Voice Cast
Freddie Prinze Jr. - Pi
Evan Rachel Wood - Cordelia
Donal Logue - Troy
Andy Dick - Dylan
Fran Drescher - Pearl
Rob Schneider - Nerissa/

Various
John Rhys-Davies - Thornton
R. Lee Emery - Jack
Richard Epcar - Moe
Mel Rodriguez - Manny
David Fickas - Max
Jimmy Bennett - Young Pi
Trent Ford - Percy
Dylan Cash - Young Percy
Megahn Perry - Meg
Lena Gleen - Buddy
Joel Michaely - Lou
Bruno Alexander - Pike
Reedy Gibbs - Piper

Crew
Directors - Kyung Ho Lee, John Fox and Howard Baker
Story - Anurag Mehta
Story/Additional Writing/Co-Producer - Timothy Wayne Peternel
Screenplay - Scott Clevenger
Additional Writing - Chris Denk
Executive Producers - Hyuk Shim, Alex J. Yoo and Sunoip Shah
Producers - Ash Shah, Mark A.Z. Dippe and Youngki Lee
Co-Producers - David Hillary
and Joshua S.H. Sohn
Casting Director - Shannon Makhanian
Voice Director - Richard Epcar
Production Designer - Deane Taylor
Additional Production Designers - Owen Paterson
and Naomi Shohan
Animation Director - Mark Donald
Animation Supervisor - Ken Duncan
Additional Animation Supervisor - Adam Wood
Supervising Animator - Kevin Lombardi
Lighting Supervisor - Keun Yup Lee 
Cinematography - Jan Carlee,
Jericca Cleland and Andy Wang
Editors - John Damien Ryan and
Tom Sanders
Music - Christopher Lennertz


Review
The animated movie 'THE REEF' (known as 'Shark Bait' in the US) is a total knock-off of 'Finding Nemo' and to a lesser extent 'Shark Tale'. Just how is it a rip-off? Well, it shares the same underwater setting where the main character is a fish. This character's name is Pi, who lost his parents to fishing and he's now being raised by his aunt Pearl. This seems very much like our friend Nemo who left temporarily orphaned when he is scooped up by a diver and ends up in a dentist's aquarium. There he is helped out by an odd collection of characters who stand in for his parents. In 'THE REEF', the shark is an antagonist. Well, it's true there was no shark antagonist in 'Finding Nemo', but remember the character Don Lino in 'Shark Tale' who refused to accept his son's vegetarianism? Now in 'THE REEF', we have a bully shark named Troy who has a unhealthy obsession with a fish named Cordelia and who likes to torment those poor fish who he considers insignificant. Compare this to Frankie from 'Shark Tale' who likes to bully his younger brother. 

Unlike how the characters are the same, 'THE REEF' tries to be more like 'The Karate Kid' but with fish. Just like Danny LaRusso and Mister Miyagi, Pi and the wise turtle Narissa work together to help Pi defeat the shark and win the heart of Cordelia. Whilst not immediately taken from 'Finding Nemo' or 'Shark Tale', it is still a direct reference to a well-known movie. Unfortunately, the animation is second-rate, the visuals are out of date and the puns like "sharking" are atrocious. The film is not helped it all by the voice acting with players such as Freddie Prinze, Jr, Andy Dick, Fran Drescher, Rob Schneider, John Rhys-Davies, R. Lee Emery and Evan Rachel Wood.

'THE REEF' should definitely be let off the hook. It’s better for you not to sit through this one because the movie contains toilet humour, bad voice acting, a terrible plot and subpar animation. It is suggested for young kids who may be able to watch this horrendous B-grade animated feature.

Star rating: (2/10) Bad Movie

Back to Home