In this sequel to Finding Nemo, a fish by the name of Dory, who just happens to have short-term memory loss, is on a mission to find her parents in the vastness of the ocean. Since her memory quickly comes and goes, she has to rely on short flashbacks of her life to put her where she needs to be. Sound familiar? It should as Finding Dory relies on a somewhat similar premise to its predecessor. It took me about five minutes to say to myself, "Here we go again". However, five minutes after that, I was entranced by this redone, yet very creative adventure that took this sequel to great heights.
I'm happy I waited as long as I did to write this review as the movie reminds me of the millions of people currently playing Pokemon Go. This new game that's sweeping the nation is not only promoting exercise, but it's causing introverts and people with social anxiety to communicate with other people that they would normally never have a conversation with. In the same way, Dory has never met an animal she didn't like which is a part of what makes her character so lovable. She swims about from scene to scene communicating with other sea creatures in the frantic way that she does. She tries to love everyone, even those that don't want to be loved and that's one of the main reasons why you can't help but root for her to succeed.
Though the premise is similar, the adventure itself is an all-around good time. Not only are you rooting for Dory, but the movie has you cheering for secondary characters as well. Every animal plays their part in helping Dory complete her quest (whether she does or not, I will not say) with original, unique roles. It's hard to choose a personal favorite because they were all done swimmingly (pun intended) well. I will say, though, you will find it very hard not to fall in love with Hank (voiced by Ed O'Neill) the octopus who is also an escape artist.
The film's message is all about determination and doing whatever you need to do to succeed. If Dory can traverse the ocean to look for parents that she hasn't seen in years with no real goal or plan in mind, shouldn't we be able to follow our own gameplan directly to our dreams? Dory has a dream we can all get behind: finding something she thought was lost. Her lovable attitude and her determination drive the movie while invoking multiple emotions in the viewer at the same time.
Pixar isn't flawless...but they've succeeded yet again. I give Finding Dory a 92.
No comments:
Post a Comment