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An okay computer animated film from Dreamworks "Shark Tale" is a landmark in the history of computer animated films because it is...okay. There was a time when animated films were few and far between and every time one came out it was something of an event, especially if it was Disney film. Then "The Little Mermaid" revitalized that segment of the movie industry, "Beauty and Beast" proved that the best animated films could stack up against the finest films in a given year, "The Lion King" cracked the Top 10 for all-time money making movies, and "Toy Story" showed what computers could do. Now the high expectations are for the computer animated works produced by Pixar and when things like "Shark Tale" comes along it is okay, but it is nothing special. I have seen it once and I do not have to see it again. The story of this Dreamworks production crosses "The Godfather," specifically the part where the head of the mob is trying to pass on the family business to a kid who does not want it, with the children's story of "The Little Tailor," whose story of killing seven flies with one blow was taken to mean he had killed seven giants, by way of "Jaws" (duh). The underwater mob is run by Don Lino (voice by Robert De Niro), who has two sons, Frankie (Michael Imperioli), the good one, and Lenny (Jack Black), the disappointing one (the kid sets his shrimp cocktail free). Don Lino order Frankie to take Lenny out for a swimabout to get his head right. Meanwhile, Oscar (Will Smith), a wrasse who works down at the Whale Wash, is so deep in debt to his puffer fish boss Sykes (Martin Scorsese), that a couple of enforcers (Ziggy Marley and Doug E. Doug) take him out into the ocean to be taught a lesson. Frankie is accidentally killed and Oscar gets the credit. From being at the bottom of the food chain (as graphically explained by Sykes), Oscar is now the "Sharkslayer." That means in addition to enjoying the affection of his girlfriend Angie (Renee Zellweger), he is being lured by the beautiful fin fatale, Lola (Angelina Jolie). But it seems that once you slay a shark, fish expect you to do it again and that means Oscar and his new friend Lenny have to come up with a plan (from which nothing good can come, at least, not directly). There are plenty of laughs in "Shark Tale." For kids there are plenty of standard cartoon slapstick while for older viewers they are enough pop culture references and in-jokes for you to pay attention and interrupted the kiddies to explain why they do not understand the joke that just went over their heads. But we are now at the point where computer animated films are following the "Disney formula" with such determination they are sucking the magic out of the experience. It was one thing when everyone in a cartoon believed that Mickey Mouse had killed seven giants, because he was Mickey and they were playing with a fairly well known fairy tale. But Oscar has no such reservoir of good will, especially since Will Smith is not known for playing the underdog, and I kept thinking there is no way anybody should be believing he is a great sharkslayer. If you are unwilling to go along with the premise, then it is hard to really go along for the ride. This is the fourth animated film from Dreamworks following "Antz," "Shrek," and "Shrek II," and it falls into last place. Hopefully it will still be there when "Casablanca" comes out this year. Obviously Pixar has set the industry standard not only with the "Toy Story" films but also with "A Bug's Life," "Monster's Inc.," "Finding Nemo," and "The Incredibles." But with "Ice Age" and "Robots," 20th Century Fox is going to move into the second slot if Dreamworks cannot improve on what they did with "Shark Tales." The fault, dear Brutus, is not with the animation but with the storyline. That still needs to be more important than the satire and whatever big name stars you bring in to do the voices.