A beautiful, hilarious, and touching new adventure

Rating: 9/10 (26 June 2016)

Wow. I am amazed at some of the negative comments about this movie.
It's been 13 years since Finding Nemo swam onto the big screen and immediately captured the hearts of people everywhere - young and old. I always felt like there was something special about Finding Nemo. Now, Pixar has created a truly wonderful sequel, Finding Dory.
At first I was somewhat hesitant about this new film for two reasons: 1, How could it ever live up to its predecessor? 2, Everyone knows sequels are never that great.
But it's important to address that this is not Finding Nemo. It is supplementary and should not really be negatively compared to it. I thought this film was stellar. From start to finish, I was locked in. Sure, it wasn't perfect, but it was darn close. I laughed and cried, embracing this new sequel for what it was: a new adventure. Halfway through, I told my movie buddy that I felt like this was a film you had to see again in theaters. The animation was beautiful, the actors were wonderful, and the idea of the rehabilitation center was interesting. It was nice to see Marlin and Nemo working together, and Hank was one of my favorite characters.
For someone who grew up on Finding Nemo, I can honestly say that I'm so happy about this sequel. It will never replace Finding Nemo, but I don't think that was its intention. This film was fueled by different intentions. In Finding Nemo, Nemo's goal is to prove his worth, while in Finding Dory, Dory wants to find her long-lost parents. And maybe I'm just naive, but at times I really didn't know what was going to happen next. I enjoyed tagging along for the ride as new events began to unfold left and right!
I really loved this movie and am not ashamed to say it! I will definitely be seeing it again soon.