Review-proof: Breathless, yet endearing ride

Rating: Null/10 (18 June 2016)

Some movies are gonna do well, in spite of anyone trying to recommend them, or not.
Now, few reviews I've read on this, before I stepped into the cinema, remarked that this was an inferior sequel, and the focus should have been more on the journey than on the ultimate destination.
I have to disagree with that, though the reviewer is someone I do respect.
They also took exception to the number of times Dory keeps referring to her condition - but, in her position, if we buy into that conceit, like we did, in 'Memento', where the lead character also keeps mentioning the same fact whenever he got to interact with any other character in the movie.
I do wish Andrew Stanton was more ambitious though, but this was pretty serviceable and decent.
The myriad supporting characters, including a new hero of sorts, the octopus, an imprinted bird, 2 whales, returning characters from the 'Finding Nemo' pop up to great disposable entertainment.
However, at one point, I thought the audience was expected to be too patient with the goings-on, and the number of ways in which the main characters lose and find one another so many times, that it soon gets to be tiring, and more mainstream than anything I've seen in a Pixar flick.
This is a fitting 2nd chapter though, which propels the tale forward, and does not need the tag of it being a 'cash-grab' or 'unnecessary' sequel.
The 3D overwhelms, and the score has to be one of the best composed, bettering the one composed for the first one.
The pace never flags, and there's always something going on, without the characters pausing for a moment of respite. I generally prefer if movies allow their characters to breathe, but this one will appeal to the young-uns with shorter attention spans. Older ones with the same problem also will be entertained.
Little Dory is one of the best, cutest characters ever committed to (animated) film.
There are flaws, like how, after some time, the malady does not pose heavy plot problems, but they can be ignored, overall. This is a children's flick, after all.
But I have to compliment the makers for something - the loneliness experienced by someone with a condition like Dory's, has not been glossed over either, and the pathos of the situation, and the character, comes through strongly, even though that might also be a function of where I might be in life, and what I was reminded of, by my own life experiences.
Movie watching is ultimately a subjective experience, and I loved this one, and will watch it a few times more.