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!
