The Reef

The wishy-washy visuals for this animated anomaly look like they were knocked up on a domestic laptop. The storyline, meanwhile, is an amalgamation of ‘Shark Tale’, ‘Finding Nemo’ and ‘The Little Mermaid’. It’s a pretty turgid enterprise all round.
When Pi’s folks are netted by a trawler in Boston harbour, the cute-looking fish is guided by a couple of dolphins to the safety of a coral reef where he immediately falls for a pouting pink fish called Cordelia. Cordelia likes him too, but she’s finding it difficult to shake off the amorous advances of thuggish shark, Troy. Will the diminutive underdog defeat his evil nemesis, save the reef’s wimpy inhabitants from the shark’s ominous presence and win the fin of his first love? ‘The Reef’ (‘Shark Bait’ in the States) is little more than a series of insignificant sub-aquatic events stitched together with very little imagination. Yet, against all odds, the two ten-year-olds who accompanied me to the press screening thought it was worth at least two stars. So I’ve given it one.