Finding Dory (B+ or 3.5/4 stars)
Finding Dory' (directed by Andrew Stanton & Angus MacLane) - a sort of sequel to 2003's wildly popular & inventive Academy Award-winning animated classic, Finding Nemo - treads familiar waters. Themes about the importance of friends & family, as well as the value of tolerance, are the same as the '03 film. The general narrative thrust {small fish makes a long, treacherous journey to find their family} replicates the '03 film, as well. But despite the similarities, 'Finding Dory' is highly enjoyable in its own right. The story starts roughly 1 year after loveable, absent-minded blue tang fish, Dory (superbly voiced by Ellen DeGeneres), assisted widowed clownfish, Marlin (Albert Brooks), find his missing son, Nemo (Hayden Rolence).
They now live in the Great Barrier Reef and, when serving as a teaching assistant {snout the migrations of sea animals returning home}, Dory - who suffers from short term memory loss - begins having splintered memories of her parents, Jenny (Diane Keaton) & Charlie (Eugene Levy); who she hasn't seen since she wandered off from them in childhood. With scattershot memories about the name of her home, Dory convinces her surrogate family of Marlin & Nemo to trek with her across the ocean where they end up outside the Marine Life Institute, a public facility that rehabs injured sea creatures before returning them to the sea or, if that's not practical, to indefinite aquarium facilities; the facility's purpose, as Sigourney Weaver's voice intonates, is to "rescue, rehabilitate & release".
After getting tangled up in a plastic soda holder, Dory is scooped up by workers there and put into seclusion. Inside the Institute, she meets Hank (Ed O'Neill), a 7-legged octopus who actually doesn't want to be rehabbed; longing to live a peaceful life in a faraway Cleveland aquarium. But to get over there, he needs the quarantine tag that Dory is wearing and, thusly, agrees to help her find her folks in exchange for said tag. All the while, Marlin & Nemo get help from 2 lazy sea lions, Fluke (Idris Elba) & Rudder (Dominic West), who love their sun basking rock, as well as a non-verbal, wacky loon named Becky. With them trying to help from outside the facility, Dory gets help inside, not only from Hank, but also from an old friend in near-sighted whale shark, Destiny (Kaitlin Olson), & an anxious beluga whale, Bailey (Ty Burrell), who is having issues with his sonar echolocation. As Dory tries desperately to find her parents, Marlin & Nemo try to find & rescue Dory.
Visually, this movie just may be Pixar's strongest offering yet ... and that's really saying something. To say that the film sparkles is an understatement. It is bright, colorful, & vivid. Underwater scenes are naturally like this, but it is a treat to behold, regardless. The voice acting by Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Diane Keaton, Eugene Levy, Ed O'Neill, Idris Elba, Bill Hader, Kate McKinnon, Dominic West, John Ratzenberger, & the aforementioned Sigourney Weaver {as the recorded host of the marine institute} is fantastic. Dory's relationship with Hank the octopus is wonderful and, the film utilizes her ability to 'speak whale' in a humorous way.
'Finding Dory' has a strong emotional core. It is easy to be invested in Dory's emotional family journey and, the notion of re-connecting with lost loved ones & becoming a family unit again is something that nearly anyone can relate to. The flashback sequences with mom & dad caring for their darling, but impaired daughter are genuinely affecting. 'Finding Dory' is surely geared towards children, but adults can surely enjoy it & even by moved by it. I know my mother, grandmother I really loved this; and we're farrrrr from kids, ha. Honestly, the skillful blend of comedy & gravitas of the plot is what got us. Now, 'Finding Dory' may not be as sophisticated as some of Pixar's greats and, most fans will prefer Finding Nemo ... but I adore this movie.
They now live in the Great Barrier Reef and, when serving as a teaching assistant {snout the migrations of sea animals returning home}, Dory - who suffers from short term memory loss - begins having splintered memories of her parents, Jenny (Diane Keaton) & Charlie (Eugene Levy); who she hasn't seen since she wandered off from them in childhood. With scattershot memories about the name of her home, Dory convinces her surrogate family of Marlin & Nemo to trek with her across the ocean where they end up outside the Marine Life Institute, a public facility that rehabs injured sea creatures before returning them to the sea or, if that's not practical, to indefinite aquarium facilities; the facility's purpose, as Sigourney Weaver's voice intonates, is to "rescue, rehabilitate & release".
After getting tangled up in a plastic soda holder, Dory is scooped up by workers there and put into seclusion. Inside the Institute, she meets Hank (Ed O'Neill), a 7-legged octopus who actually doesn't want to be rehabbed; longing to live a peaceful life in a faraway Cleveland aquarium. But to get over there, he needs the quarantine tag that Dory is wearing and, thusly, agrees to help her find her folks in exchange for said tag. All the while, Marlin & Nemo get help from 2 lazy sea lions, Fluke (Idris Elba) & Rudder (Dominic West), who love their sun basking rock, as well as a non-verbal, wacky loon named Becky. With them trying to help from outside the facility, Dory gets help inside, not only from Hank, but also from an old friend in near-sighted whale shark, Destiny (Kaitlin Olson), & an anxious beluga whale, Bailey (Ty Burrell), who is having issues with his sonar echolocation. As Dory tries desperately to find her parents, Marlin & Nemo try to find & rescue Dory.
Visually, this movie just may be Pixar's strongest offering yet ... and that's really saying something. To say that the film sparkles is an understatement. It is bright, colorful, & vivid. Underwater scenes are naturally like this, but it is a treat to behold, regardless. The voice acting by Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Diane Keaton, Eugene Levy, Ed O'Neill, Idris Elba, Bill Hader, Kate McKinnon, Dominic West, John Ratzenberger, & the aforementioned Sigourney Weaver {as the recorded host of the marine institute} is fantastic. Dory's relationship with Hank the octopus is wonderful and, the film utilizes her ability to 'speak whale' in a humorous way.
'Finding Dory' has a strong emotional core. It is easy to be invested in Dory's emotional family journey and, the notion of re-connecting with lost loved ones & becoming a family unit again is something that nearly anyone can relate to. The flashback sequences with mom & dad caring for their darling, but impaired daughter are genuinely affecting. 'Finding Dory' is surely geared towards children, but adults can surely enjoy it & even by moved by it. I know my mother, grandmother I really loved this; and we're farrrrr from kids, ha. Honestly, the skillful blend of comedy & gravitas of the plot is what got us. Now, 'Finding Dory' may not be as sophisticated as some of Pixar's greats and, most fans will prefer Finding Nemo ... but I adore this movie.