As Good, If Not Better Than Finding Nemo

Rating: 10/10 (16 June 2016)

Oh Andrew Stanton, why did I ever doubt you? First off, let me get one thing out of the way. I was not expecting this to fail. I was SCARED it would fail. However, like I said, there was no point to that fear. One thing I was absolutely marveling over in this movie was the animation. I said this in my Finding Nemo review but the water looks like real water and not just that. The lighting on the ocean has gotten much better since the last movie and it looks more realistic. However, the cartoon characters still blend well with the realistic sea. Well some characters do look a little off especially compared to the last movie but thankfully they're minor characters and don't get a lot of screen time. The main characters look just like they did in the last movie and the new characters look just as great. Oh yeah, Pixar animated an octopus and he moved naturally. I was in shock with how gorgeous the animation on Hank looked. I mean wow. Pixar have come a long way animation-wise. I won't spoil the story here but I will say that it is a bit more complex and dramatic than you may think. It's not just some rehash of Finding Nemo. For example, Dory's short term memory loss, which was primarily used for laughs in the last movie, is played very seriously here. Dory actually worries that she will forget things and tries to get a hold of her short term memory loss. It's actually treated a lot like a mental disorder. I'm pretty sure that was the metaphor they were going for but I have to point it out. Thankfully, the movie isn't all depressing. There is a lot of comedy and it's actually really funny! Yeah, I laughed at all the jokes presented. There's a very good balance between drama, comedy and action which is why I love movies like Kung Fu Panda and Zootopia so much.
I like all the new characters in the film but my favorite is Hank the Octopus, or septapus whatever you want to call him. I thought he was pretty funny even though he was pretty rude in the beginning. I didn't mind that too much since he did go through a lot of great character development throughout the rest of the film. Hank's friendship with Dory is one of the things that carries this film along with the main characters, dramatic elements, serious tone and of course some great action. If I did have to issue a flaw with this movie, it's that the ending action scene was a little rushed and maybe a bit ridiculous. Maybe the ridiculous nature of it is to show you can do anything if you set your mind to it (which is a bit of theme with this movie) but it didn't have to be that rushed. Oh well, at least we got that funny thing that I will NOT spoil!
Overall, this is a great Pixar movie with outstanding animation, a serious story, great old and new characters and great action and drama. I don't even know what else to say without giving away too much. (Also you have to stay after the credits for big surprise)