Finding Dory (2016) review

In 2003, Pixar released what would become one of their most beloved films, Finding Nemo. Directed by Pixar mainstay Andrew Stanton and inspired by his personal experiences of being an over-protective father, the film told the story of a clownfish named Marlin who was forced to step out of his comfort zone and travel across the ocean in order to save his son Nemo after he is abducted by divers. Simply put, the film was a colossal hit. How big, you ask? Well by big I mean it grossed nearly a billion dollars worldwide, passing $900 million when it was re-released in 3-D in 2012, and is the best-selling DVD of all-time with over 40 million units sold. And of course it ended up winning the Oscar for Best Animated Feature that year. For many people, one of the best parts of the film was the character of Dory, the optimistic Pacific regal blue tang suffering from short-term memory loss voiced by Ellen DeGeneres. And now, 13 years after the original film’s release, Ellen’s iconic character takes center stage in her own sequel, Finding Dory, once again directed by Stanton. This time around, Dory finds herself on a journey to reunite with her family, whom she has separated from for many years. But as many of you know, fans of Pixar have been rather critical towards the studio’s attempts at doing sequels to their classic films, especially after their first non-Toy Story sequel, 2011’s Cars 2, became the first Pixar film ever to receive primarily negative reviews. However, I’m pleased to report that Finding Dory ultimately ends up being more than, to quote what certainly must have been a large chunk of folks on the internet, ‘an unnecessary sequel’. Not only does this film avoid being a ‘direct’ carbon copy of its predecessor but it also succeeds in being just as heartfelt and charming in terms of its story and the characters that inhabit it.

The main plot of this film takes place about a year after the events of Finding Nemo, after the overly-concerned clownfish Marlin (Albert Brooks) successfully rescued his son Nemo (now voiced by Hayden Rolence), who had been abducted by divers, with the help of their friend Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), a Pacific regal blue tang suffering from short-term memory loss. One day while helping Nemo’s teacher Mr. Ray (Bob Peterson) during a field trip to witness the stingray migration, Dory suddenly starts to remember her long-lost parents; her mother Jenny (Diane Keaton) and her father Charlie (Eugene Levy). However, due to her short-term memory, the primary thing that she remembers about them is that they lived somewhere that is known as ‘the jewel of Morro Bay, California’. Marlin and Nemo join her on her journey back home and the trio end up at what they learn to be was Dory’s childhood home, Morro Bay’s Marine Life Institute, where sick fish are taken care of and are then either released back into the wild or moved to a new permanent residence at an aquarium in Cleveland. Realizing that her parents must still be there, Dory travels through the various parts of the Institute hoping to find them, gaining the help of some new allies including an ill-tempered octopus named Hank (Ed O’Neill) who lost a tentacle (resulting in him being referred to as a ‘septopus’ by Dory) and is looking to be taken to the Cleveland aquarium instead of being released back into the ocean, a beluga whale named Bailey (Ty Burrell) who believes that he’s lost his echo location ability following a recent concussion, and her old childhood friend Destiny (Kaitlin Olson), a near-sighted whale shark.

When this film was first announced, I will admit that I was a little bit concerned that it was just going to rehash the exact same plot of the first film. Given that the title is Finding Dory, one could have easily just assumed that it would be just like Finding Nemo except that this time Dory would be the one who got abducted. Thankfully this is not the case with the actual film, as it instead focuses on Dory’s journey to find her parents. But at the same time this new film does maintain the same general story structure as its predecessor as far as being a light-hearted sea adventure in which the trio of Dory, Marlin, and Nemo end up in a strange place (in this case, a Marine Life Institute) and come across an eclectic bunch of characters that help them along the way. And ultimately that’s a good thing because at the end of the day this film manages to be just as charming and heartfelt as its predecessor through the different themes that it explores. Those themes include ideas such as the strength of family and teamwork and the ability to overcome one’s disability, which of course in Dory’s case is her short-term memory loss. All of these themes are handled perfectly and the film is full of both heartwarming and heartbreaking moments, as you would obviously expect from a Pixar film. And also as is common with Pixar films, the animation is excellent. In fact, I’d say that the Nemo films have been some of Pixar’s absolute best films animation-wise. The animators just do phenomenal jobs in regards to bringing the ocean to life in animated form. Pair that with Thomas Newman’s once-again excellent/eloquent score and you have a pair of films that evoke what I find to be a really nice sense of relaxation.

Of course this time around Ellen DeGeneres takes on leading role status as Dory and once again she is absolutely phenomenal in the role. Dory is just as lovable, and just as charmingly forgetful, as she was in the first film and this film also allows her to embrace her shortcomings (e.g. her short-term memory loss) instead of feeling ashamed about them. Albert Brooks also returns as Marlin, who’s just as apprehensive but still very much kind-hearted as he was in the previous film. As for Nemo, the 13-year gap between the two Finding films obviously means that he’s voiced by a different actor this time around due to the fact that his original voice actor, Alexander Gould (who has a voice cameo in the film), is now too old for the role. But like when Blake Clark replaced Jim Varney as the voice of Slinky in Toy Story 3, Hayden Rolence proves to be a solid replacement. He maintains a practically pitch-perfect Nemo voice compared to Gould’s in the first film, so much so that those unaware might not even notice a change in voice actor. Finding Dory also introduces a slew of new characters who are just as lovable as the original protagonists. First there’s Ed O’Neill as Dory’s ‘primary’ new ally Hank the Octopus and while he can be rather curmudgeonly at times he still has a good heart, or technically 3 given that an octopus has 3 hearts (a fact that is mentioned in the film). Dory’s childhood friend Destiny is just as bubbly as Dory is personality-wise and there’s also quite a couple of new humorous characters as well, including Ty Burrell as Bailey, a beluga whale who mistakenly believes that he can’t use echo location (Bailey and Destiny have a fun rapport with each other) and Idris Elba and Dominic West as a pair of easy-going sea lions who get annoyed when their fellow sea lion Gerald tries to sit on their rock.  

You might recall in some of my previous Pixar reviews that I’ve started to use the term ‘15/10 masterpiece’ when talking about the company’s output. Well that of course was in reference to the fact that the expectations towards Pixar are so high nowadays because of how successful they’ve been over the years that any film of theirs that is not outright critically acclaimed is treated like some kind of criminal offense. And no I’m not kidding I’ve actually seen some people describe their lesser films in that manner. Thankfully that doesn’t end up being the case with Finding Dory, a sequel I find that people were either really excited about due to their love of the original film or really apprehensive about given Pixar’s ‘track record’ with sequels. But at the end of the day, this film manages to very much be proof that Pixar can produce quality sequels (disclaimer: though if you ask me they already proved that three years ago with Monsters University) that are not directly connected to the Toy Story franchise. Finding Dory wisely does not copy the exact same plot of its predecessor, instead opting for a story in which Dory, easily this franchise’s most popular character, embarks on a journey to find her parents after being separated from them for so long. But at the same time, the film does what any good sequel does and maintains the same level of charm and heart as its predecessor. The end result is yet another fantastic and, for lack of a better term, ‘unforgettable’ effort from Pixar in every possible way that will very much appeal to those who grew up with Finding Nemo as well as those who were born after the first film’s initial release and are potentially general newcomers to the franchise.

Rating: 5/5!