Finding Dory Review

Starring: Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Hayden Rolence, Ed O'Neill, Diane Keaton, Eugene Levy, Kaitlin Olson, Ty Burrell, Idris Elba, Dominic West, Sigourney Weaver

There was certainly a lot of excitement going into Finding Dory's premiere. June 17th, 2016 was a date I was anticipating since the first day Ellen announced the sequel, and I know many of my high school-aged friends were anxiously waiting Finding Dory's arrival. It's a little strange, especially when in the theater, because older teens and adults made up most of the audience. Truly Finding Nemo was a huge film in my childhood. I've seen it more times than I could possibly count, even going as far to see the 3D re-release my freshman year. I recently took out the old VCR tape of Finding Nemo to jog my memory and see if I'd still appreciate it at 19 years old. I wasn't surprised to see that it held up exceptionally well, even thirteen years after I'd first seen it.  Finding Dory has quite a lot to live up to. I'm certain if you haven't seen the film yet (I'm a little late on the review), you've heard it's either as good as Finding Nemo, or you've possibly heard it's even better. After seeing the film, I can confirm it is as good as Finding Nemo. While it doesn't carry the same whimsy as the first film had for me, it really transported me back to being a kid who lived for Pixar movies, while making me feel like as an adult, I can really appreciate a meaningful animated movie. Finding Dory really is as good as everyone says it is.

The best part of a Pixar film are always the characters. While Dory was great as a sidekick, it's clear that she can hold her own as the lead. Pixar has crafted such a realistic and relatable character, and Ellen only gives Dory life. Her charismatic voice performance makes her impossible to not like. The new characters are amazing as well. Hank the octopus (septapus) in particular made a big impact on me. I really related to his character and his arc was very well done. I wasn't a big fan of Destiny the whale shark, mainly because I thought her design was too cartoonish in a movie where the fish really look realistic. But her scenes were funny, and her nearsightedness was a great joke. Bailey the beluga whale made me laugh constantly, thanks to Ty Burrell's great voice and snarky demeanor. Plus, his echolocation was very cool and a great way to educate kids about the animals. I think everyone will walk away loving the sea lions. Idris Elba and Dominic West (partners on The Wire) play two hilarious lazy sea lions that try to protect their rock from Gerald, who's a little special. Their banter back and forth is hilarious, and they have some of the funniest dialogue in the whole film. The two characters I didn't like were Nemo and Marlin. I thought they were very unneeded. Until they met up with Dory again I thought their plot was very flat, I didn't particularly like Becky (nor did I understand why she couldn't talk) and I thought Marlin was very mean. You would think he learned a little from his adventures in the first film, but he resorted back to being mean to Dory.

As you can see in the above picture, Baby Dory is very adorable (and compelling!). I think the way Dory's past was tied into the present was so masterful. You really felt the loss of her parents and her need to find them, because the exposition of her childhood was so well done. It was reminiscent of finding a piece of Nemo all the way to Sydney, but more emotional. Every scene of Baby Dory brilliantly tied into the current plot and carried some emotional heft. From "what do we say to the undertow?" to "Mommy likes purple shells" everything was utilized brilliantly. I thought a certain scene with her parents (no spoilers) was so emotionally touching, and the image was burned into my brain for the day. Pixar has been accused of emotionally manipulating lately, probably because between Toy Story 3 and Inside Out, their films weren't very great, so it seemed like you were crying because of forced emotion. Finding Dory trumps those films, to feel like their most genuine sequel since Toy Story 3.

I think Finding Dory really nails it the Pixar formula. It's a great story and it has great humor. There are running gags that are hilarious every time, like the Sigourney Weaver voice, and the "three hearts" joke. I waited to see Finding Dory in both 2D and 3D to give a proper review, mostly because Finding Nemo in 3D blew me away with how well the effects worked with the ocean setting. I'd recommend Finding Dory in 3D only because it really immerses you into the film, but other than that it's fine in 2D. I highly recommend Finding Dory. It's fun for the entire family, younger kids and older teens with both appreciate it, and it has a lot of clever humor, with an emotional story. It doesn't quite match the perfection that Finding Nemo effortlessly had, but for a new generation of kids, this will certainly be a classic.

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