Finding Dory (2016)

Director: Andrew Stanton
Story: Andrew Stanton
Cast: Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Hayden Rolence 
Music: Thomas Newman
Time: 97 minutes
Bottom-line: Wonderful experience, but doesn’t have the same effect as Finding Nemo 

13 years after the magic of Finding Nemo, here comes the much waited sequel that reunites the adorable characters of Nemo, Marlin and Dory. Ellen DeGeneres and Albert Brooks reprise their vocal roles as Dory and Marlin, while Rolence voices Nemo. The supporting cast includes Ed O’ Neill, Eugene Levy and Ty Burrell.

The story picks off one year after the events of Finding Nemo, and Dory (DeGeneres) has become like family to Marlin (Brooks) and his son Nemo (Rolence). One day during Nemo’s class, Dory suddenly has a flashback that convinces she has parents. She is determined to mind them, and considering the help that Dory offered in finding Nemo, the clownfish pair agrees to help her out. The trio experience a whole new set of adventures now, from escaping a giant squid, to being taken to a quarantine section, to Dory meeting her childhood friends and a seven-tentacled octopus Hank (O’Neill) who agrees to help Dory in return for her tag (that shows she belongs in the aquarium). Whether or not Dory is able to find her parents with all these obstacles, not to forget her short-term memory loss, is what the film is about.

Marlin, Nemo and Dory

As expected, Finding Dory has an amazing blend of humour, sentiment, adventure and drama. However, I loved Finding Nemo so much that I have sort of fixed it as the benchmark for animation films, and this one doesn’t reach that mark. The lead characters are, of course, adorable and funny, and the character of Hank – with his cunning deals and short temper – adds a new and exciting flavour to the proceedings of the story. But for some reason I wasn’t as empathetic towards the characters as I was in the prequel; the vicarious feelings of elation and sadness aren’t quite as powerful.

Hank, with Dory

The story has a lot of plot twists, especially a series of them fired one after another in rapid succession in the last half hour. At times I felt the story moved too fast, but the action and humour compensated for it. This film has a big part of the story happening outside the ocean, so that fascination that I got on seeing the ocean life in Finding Nemo wasn’t there either. The vocal work is splendid, and Ellen DeGeneres deserves a lot of praise. The supporting cast, especially Burrell (who plays a beluga whale) and O’Neill have done well too.

I know I have made a lot of comparisons in this review but that is to tell two things: one, don’t expect this to be as breathtaking as Finding Nemo, and two, as a sequel, this film deserves credit for coming close to being as good! The story is exciting and thrilling, there is a sufficient of humour, and of course, you can watch the film just to revisit the characters of Nemo, Marlin and Dory! Watch the film with your family, and get ready to have wonderful ride!

My Rating: 3.5/5
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 94%