Finding Dory - B

​Quick Hit: Lacks the some of the emotional impact of the sequel, but nevertheless is still a good family film.

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Animated movie sequels either go one of two ways. You either get something that is so derived from the first movie that it waters down all that is good, or you get a movie that successfully bridges that gap between the characters.

Dory made me think that there is a third option that is somewhere in the middle of the two. Don’t get me wrong, I liked Dory (I’ll elaborate more, don’t you worry Fair Reader), but I didn’t LOVE Dory like I loved Finding Nemo. I found myself focusing less on the movie and more on my snacks, and that made me sad, because I think the film has a decent premise.

Basically, Dory remembers that she has a family, and takes off across the sea to California to find her family. Here, the story takes a big jump, as we immediately get to a current, that Shell happens to be in, in order to slingshot the characters there. This is disappointing, despite me understanding the reasoning behind why Pixar did this. We can’t have another travel movie like Nemo, but it feels like a narrative shortcut, much like I talked about in my shared Game of Thrones posts.

Once there, the characters are separated (otherwise how would we FIND Dory), and Dory begins to traverse small bits of her past with a grumpy octopus, Hank. He’s a good enough character, but his motivations are a bit unclear, despite the fact that his voice, performed by Ed O’Neill (of Modern Family and many others) is spot on. I get that he’s afraid of the ocean, but it doesn’t really play into why. In 

Finding Nemo (I know that I am unfairly comparing the two, because the first one was so good, but they’re sequels so I can’t help myself), Marlin had motivations for being afraid of the sea that were very obvious. Here, things are muddled. I would have liked to hear more about Hank’s background.

There are some other character additions – sea lions, a near-sighted whale shark (played by Kaitlin Olson of It’s Always Sunny), and a beluga whale with supposed echolocation problems (played by Ty Burrell, also of Modern Family).  Some of these characters are better than others (I think that Destiny, the whale shark, is the best of the bunch), and I think that the sea lions were positively cruel in the way they treated the sea lion that was obviously different. Kids don’t’ need reasons to poke fun at other kids – they already do it without being shown to do so in movies as well.

Overall, the story moves along pretty well, and I was impressed as always at the animation effects (Hank’s movement was amazing to watch – all those arms!). The movie is good, and it held my toddler’s attention. But if you are looking to be blown away the same way you were with Nemo, you may leave slightly disappointed.

I’m going to give Finding Dory a “B”.

For more on this film, check out IMDB.