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!

Muppets Most Wanted (2014) review

One of the most pleasant surprises of 2011 was Disney’s reboot of ‘The Muppets’, the first ‘Muppets’ film to be released theatrically in more than a decade. It was clear that with this film, writers Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller had a lot of respect for the franchise, and that really showed in the final product. It was a film that was not only both charming and funny, but also one that had a lot of heart to it as well, resulting in what was definitely one of the best films of that year. Now, the Muppets are back again with ‘Muppets Most Wanted’. Most of the members of the previous film’s behind-the-scenes crew return for this one, including director James Bobin, writer Nicholas Stoller, and songwriter/music supervisor Bret McKenzie. This one, however, features a new cast of leads (not counting any of its cameos) in place of Jason Segel (who also does not return as one of the writers) and Amy Adams. How does this one hold up? Well, it may not exactly have the same amount of heart as its predecessor, but it’s still a very fun and zany film, one that pretty much captures the essence of why the Muppets are as memorable as they are.

‘Muppets Most Wanted’ literally opens right at the end of the last film, as the Muppets now look ahead wondering what to do for a ‘sequel’ now that they are famous again. A new opportunity arises when ‘tour manager’ Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais) suggests that they go on a world tour. Despite Kermit’s hesitations, the Muppets agree to go on this world tour. What they don’t know is that this is actually a ruse set up by Dominic and his partner Constantine, the world’s number one criminal, who plan to steal the Crown Jewels of Britain and frame the Muppets for the crime. Constantine just so happens to be a dead ringer for Kermit, so part of the plan consists of Constantine taking Kermit’s place in the group while Kermit is sent to jail. Constantine manages to fool most of the other Muppets, including Miss Piggy, into believing that he is Kermit. However, Walter, Fozzie, and Animal figure out he isn’t and try to help Kermit get out of jail before Dominic and Constantine can succeed with their plan.

While this film is just as charming as its 2011 predecessor, it doesn’t really have the same heart that ‘The Muppets’ had. That film was, in every sense of the term, an open love letter to the franchise with the intent of making the franchise prominent again, which it did. As for this one, though, it’s basically just your average sequel. It goes through most of the motions that most sequels go through when they get made. However, that’s not really a bad film in regards to the film itself. This is really more of a case of the way that the film is executed. This is, as advertised, an international road trip/farce that’s more in line with a film like ‘The Great Muppet Caper’ or ‘Muppets Take Manhattan’. This is an old school ‘Muppets’ film and it’s a pretty solid representation of the franchise in general. There still are a few good morals and touching moments in this film, but I can’t say it’s as heartwarming as the previous film, a film that appealed to both the young newcomers to the franchise and those who grew up with it to begin with. This one is still a solid family film, though it kind of feels like this one is just a little bit more geared to kids.

With that said though, this is still a very fun movie full of pop culture references, zany humor, and cameos galore. And I do mean ‘cameos galore’ because there are a ton of them in here, probably even more so than in the original. There are appearances from people like Tom Hiddleston, Ray Liotta, Danny Trejo, and Lady Gaga just to name a few. All of them seem to be having a lot of fun doing this film keeping in line with the film’s silly atmosphere. The same can be said for the 3 three main leads; Ricky Gervais, Tina Fey, who plays a Russian guard at the prison Kermit gets locked up in, and Ty Burrell, who plays an Interpol inspector who works with Sam the Eagle as the two investigate the robberies being committed by Dominic and Constantine. If I had to choose a standout from the three, it would have to be Burrell. He and Sam the Eagle work off each other really well and a lot of the film’s funniest lines come from those two, like the one that has been shown in the trailer where they show off their badges, trying to one up each other in regards to how big their badges are.

All in all, ‘Muppets Most Wanted’ is a pretty solid representation of the Muppets franchise as a whole; fun, zany, but also charming at the same time. However, I can’t quite say that this one was as heartwarming as its predecessor. That’s not entirely a problem here because in execution, this is very much a farce and as such, it’s still a very entertaining family film in that regard. It’s clear that everyone involved had a lot of fun making this film and it does show in the final product. Overall, if you really liked 2011’s ‘The Muppets’, than you will probably enjoy this film; if you didn’t, then you probably won’t like this one either. In the end though, I do think that ‘The Muppets’ was the better film because, from the bottom up, it was an open love letter to the franchise and as a result was a lot more heartwarming and sweet because of this. This film on the other hand, while still a charming and goofy family film, doesn’t really have that same benefit. Still, it’s a fun film that the whole family can enjoy; that includes both general newcomers and long-time fans.

Rating: 4/5