It is always nice seeing some movie or cartoon inspired by the tales from the sea. But this movie has no tale.Almost from the start, the audience was offered no promising or even interesting story, nothing that would make them continue watching. This movie just began and went on with its slow pace, with no specific goal ahead, as if it is some documentary about the life in the sea depths.Even though the artwork is nicely done, little it contributed to overall impression. The characters, somewhat dull and naive, lacking vividness and soul, are literary swimming through this story, having almost no effect on its development.So, this is by no means some special tale, let alone adventure, but children up to the age of 6 may find it appealing due to fine artwork and pretty colors. Otherwise, I do not recommend this movie, as I think it would be a waste of time.

As I have mentioned in some of my other reviews, I used to live in a residential care home with staff support because I have Asperger syndrome and I went to the cinema with the majority of them. This may sound tiresome for those of you who have read my previous reviews but this is yet another film I saw at the cinema with one of those staff members and we both found it very sweet and the 3D was incredible in both the film and the trailer. I gave this film another shot upon watching it on LoveFilm Instant and I enjoyed it as much as I did first time around although it wasn't quite the same without the 3D effect.The film is reminiscent of other CGI films set under water such as 'Finding Nemo,' 'Shark Tale' and 'The Reef,' which may not make it the most original film in the world but to be honest, having turtles as the main characters did indeed give this film a hint of originality. Although turtles have been used as main animated characters elsewhere (for example in childhood favourite 'Teenage Mutant Hero/Ninja Turtles'), the concept of having them in an underwater adventure film is entirely new. All the turtle characters were cute, especially Sammy and Shelly (a clever name for a turtle) and the underwater scenes especially were gorgeously rendered. The most distinctive historical part was that of the hippies on the beach, which made it easy for me to tell that particular scene took place in the 1960s. This was shown by the hippies' clothing and vehicles as well as the use of 'California Dreaming' by the Mamas and the Papas, which was one of my favourite songs on the soundtrack. Other songs I liked were Mika's 'Love Today,' the cover version of 'Ain't No Sunshine (originally recorded by Bill Whithers whose version I prefer),' 'Talking To The Moon' by Bruno Mars and VV Brown's incredibly underrated 'Shark In The Water' that played over the cut-out pop-up book part of the closing credits. The other songs were quite pleasant if rather forgettable but I liked the incidental music as well, especially the harp-led and calypso-inspired tunes that accompanied some of the underwater scenes and I also liked the sitar arrangement of 'Jingle Bells' that played during the hippie beach scene at Christmas. The story had some twists and turns such as Sammy getting separated from Shelly a few times but reuniting with her and it had a decent environmental message that was similar to that in 'Happy Feet' especially. The voice acting was full of clarity and I liked Fluffy's French accent as well as the seagull's Scottish twang while the dialogue has something for both children and adults with references to mating and flirting and good messages about friendship and encouragement, although children may find the mentions of turtle soup distressing. Other positive assets of the film were the inter-cut 2D segments that showed the progress of Sammy's adventure, the character animation and the opening title resembling the Universal logo.Overall this is a sweet film that is original in its own way and carries a somewhat valuable environmental message if not as outstanding as that in 'Happy Feet.' 8/10.

The animation in this film is top quality, I even enjoyed the music but the total focus of the film is the Environmental calamities in the world. It starts in the 1960's and ends in the 2000's. It goes from oil spills, a slight mention of war (the Vietnam war) to the whaling in the Arctic ocean. The way that trash is just thrown into the ocean, netting (catching abundances of fish from the ocean), ocean-lined pipelines polluting the ocean, global warming, etc., etc., etc., Non- stop of one Environmental issue after another, mainly dealing with the ocean. These are important issues but pick one or two of them not cram them all in an 86 minute film. What story there was was completely lost by the obvious political bias of the film.If this was supposed to be humorous it was lost on me. I did laugh a few times but they were quiet laughs. The story of Sammy and Shelly could've been so well done (especially with all the love songs used) but you get pulled away from it when the rush of Environmental issues is cutting into, what apparently is supposed to be the main story.Kids may enjoy this more than adults based on the fact the political side of this may escape them. Then again...maybe not.-Nam

Sammy (voiced by Yuri Lowenthal) was born during the hippie era. One of the last to leave the nest in a rush for the ocean his fate seemed doomed to be short and tragic. But some wit and bravado enables him to reach the ocean, whilst unwittingly saving Snow (Melanie Griffith) as well. Soon after he embarks on a journey through life that will see him meet a plethora of friends and venturing around the world in the process...I did have some initial doubts about commenting on this movie - being undeniably spoilt with the charm and wit of Miyazaki or Pixar. How well are adults prepared to voice their opinion about an animation, whose target audience seems inevitably to be below the teen-line and would have probably never seen this movie were it not for my child. Nonetheless I decided to venture into an opinion basing my review on a purely adult perspective.And in this context Sammy's adventures fail to impress or even engage, unlike the already mentioned Miyazaki creativity, which manages to capture the warmth in adults, take a grip of it and indulge everyone concerned into childhood fantasies. Sammy basically drifts through life and unfortunately the way of life is also predominantly the feel of the movie: slow, unfocused and with no real point to it.The animation is really tremendous and a pleasure for the eye, which makes it a visually appealing experience for all involved. As a parent I much prefer such beauty to captivate my child's eye than the harshness and grossness of most of Cartoon Network's offering. With this perspective in mind I didn't feel my time was wasted on the movie, even though several almost visceral and realistic chase sequences with piranhas or sharks seemed a bit out of place given the overall tone of the animation. At times it did make the film seem more like something from the Animal Planet and not a children's story.The life of Sammy may be a visually stunning and happy affair, but it is unable to invoke the emotions necessary to make it anything other than an adequate Sunday child timewaster.