A Slight Let Down, But Good As A Whole

Rating: 7/10 (18 June 2016)

Finding Dory is directed by Andrew Stanton and Angus MacLane and is Pixar's latest sequel, following up to 2003's Finding Nemo. In this film, Dory begins to envision flashbacks of her childhood, including her parents and activities she would do with them. She remembers where she used to live, and, along with Marlin (Albert Brooks) and his son Nemo (Hayden Rolence), swim across the ocean once again to find her long lost family.
After 13 years of waiting, I was pretty pumped for Finding Dory, despite the underwhelming trailers. However, from the trailers, there were a few things to look forward to, such as the, once again, amazing voice acting, bright, vivid animation, and intriguing quest to find Dory's parents. Although I enjoyed the film, I couldn't help leaving the theater somewhat disappointed. There were more than a few elements that I felt could've been done better, despite the film being good as a whole.
The best thing about Finding Dory has got to be the voice acting, specifically the lines delivered by the voice of Dory herself - Ellen DeGeneres. If anyone were to ask me what I would consider as a perfect blend between voice actor and character, I wouldn't hesitate to give them my answer, that being Ellen DeGeneres as Dory, from both Finding Nemo (2003) and Finding Dory (2016). DeGeneres brings a hilariousness, as well as a sincerity, to the character of Dory, completely bringing this character to life.
Most of the other voice acting was pretty great too. Albert Brooks reprises his role of Marlin, the clown fish, and Hayden Rolence has taken over as Nemo on behalf of Alexander Gould, whose voice has changed since his turn as the character in '03. The film introduces a few new characters as well, such as Destiny, the near- sighted whale, voiced by Kaitlin Olson, and the beluga whale named Bailey, who can't echolocate due to a past injury, voiced by Ty Burrell. However, my favorite of all the supporting characters was that of the octopus escapee named Hank, voiced by Ed O'Neill, whose hidden care for Dory and her ultimate goals was expressed greatly through his brilliant character arc throughout the entire run time of the film.
The animation - need I say - is produced by Pixar, therefore it looks incredible. Each and every fish (that matters) pops out on the screen exactly as the animators want them to. Each time the audience is supposed to see something important, we see it, thanks to the fantastic animation team working on Finding Dory. All of the colors magnificently stand out from the overall bland backgrounds, and make the film look astounding.
My main complaint with the film is the pacing of timed events. Every once in awhile, the film finds itself standing still for a good few minutes, before it begins to pick up again. These stuck-in-the-mud moments are usually supposed to be emotional ones, which, I oddly didn't connect with too much, which is strange to say about a Pixar film (without "Cars" in the title, at least). The pacing wasn't the greatest, and seemed to drag the film down a bit, which was disappointing.
Another problem I found in Finding Dory was the elements it took from its predecessor, that being Finding Nemo (2003). Much like the 2010 film Toy Story 3, many elements depend on the nostalgia of the viewer. Being a child when Finding Nemo came out, I should've been struck with nostalgia when watching Finding Dory. However, I decided to take off my nostalgia goggles for this one, and was surprised by how much the film relies on the nostalgia of the audience. Although it isn't a huge issue, the similarities between this plot and Finding Nemo's stood out quite a bit.
The last complaint I have with the film, which is a small one, is the lack of characters from the first film showing up in this one. We get to see a bit of Crush (Andrew Stanton) and his son Squirt (Bennett Dammann), Mr. Ray (Bob Peterson), and a glimpse of Gill (Willem Dafoe) and his friends, but no other original characters show up in Finding Dory. Personally, I would've liked to see Bruce and his shark friends, more of Gill, and even a bit more of Crush; his appearance was more of a cameo. The film spent too much time developing a multitude of new characters that it forgot to include the older ones, it seems.
Overall, I did enjoy Finding Dory, it just wasn't as good as Finding Nemo, which is one of Pixar's best. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the first film, because you will appreciate it.