I did it! I went to the theatre at the latest possible non-3D showing, sat in a theatre full of children with my boyfriend, and I watched Finding Dory. Right now, Finding Dory has 95% on Rottentomatoes… that’s extremely fresh! Not as fresh as Finding Nemo, which is sitting at a beautiful and near-perfect 99%. Honestly, going in, I expected worse than I received!
As always, Pixar delivered the most beautiful scenery. The oceanscapes are absolutely gorgeous and I can’t imagine how much time, effort, and work went into animating it. Just an unreal amount of beauty! Anybody who has seen Finding Nemo can vouch for the fact that a sequel is basically unnecessary. Nemo was a masterpiece on its own that ended perfectly, no more explanation needed. However, I would say that this addition was not unwelcome. I was really worried that they were basically going to make a re…imagining, if you will, of Finding Nemo -Dory gets lost, Marlin & Nemo have to scour the ocean to find her, they get into crazy ocean hijinks – and at its most basic, that is the premise of the film, but it takes it just one step further to make something original!
I have to nit-pick though. I think they went too far with anthropomorphizing the sea creatures. In the first film, there were far-fetched aspects – you know, A.A. with sharks and escaping through a whale’s blowhole – but at least those are… things that happen in the ocean. You expect them to take real-life elements in the ocean – sharks, jellyfish, anglerfish, the East Australian Current – and use them to make a coherent story. THAT SAID, there is a line where you jump straight from “plausible” to “absolutely ridiculous” and I gotta say, octopus driving truck being navigated by Blue Tang and being tracked by a beluga whale over in the ocean using his echolocation, is nearing that extreme we don’t want to be hitting.
I’m certain that kids liked it. I could hear them all around me laughing and squealing with delight, however, for those of us… *ahem* adults who enjoy animated films that have an intelligent streak, you just can’t suspend your disbelief that far or for that long.
All that aside, the film is heartwarming and I teared up a bit when Dory was reunited with her parents. It was entertaining enough to keep my attention, as well as several under-10-year-olds’… it just overstepped a bound or two that I, personally, wouldn’t have crossed. It introduced many entertaining characters, such as Hank the seven-legged octopus (septopus?), Gerald the sea lion, and Becky the loon, as well as some less entertaining characters who are integral to the plot, such as Destiny the whale shark, and Bailey the Beluga whale. It is a worthy addition to the Pixar roster… I’m just not sure it’s as perfect a film as Finding Nemo!
Joy Reviews Movies 