Sentimental and Funny, at the same time. Charming!

Rating: 9/10 (18 June 2016)

The real beauty in Pixar's FINDING DORY lies beneath the elaborate tapestry of immersive adventures, played in plethoraic array of comic efforts pulled off by what could be now one of the most sprightly animated characters to ever grace the big screen. Dory's adventures might singularly win hearts through laughs, but there's a bracing sentiment lurking at the depths of its story that can never be less of a heart-rending emotional gem.
Coming thirteen years after the critical and commercial success of its predecessor, 'Finding Nemo', 'Dory' displays a zealous effort to replicate a similar success by pulling off an essentially similar drama. Only this time, Dory (Ellen deGeneres), whose colossal allure generated much of the overall comic charm in 'Finding Nemo', is the one trying to find her way home. Her journey is depicted in equally vivid, albeit chaotic, adventures that don't only concern about her finding her way back to her family, but more thematically appropriate, about her attempt for self-discovery. In the opening sequence, the sentimental heft of her story is already gaining some volume, but what comes next, no matter how engagingly funny, provides an even more crippling notions of friendship, courage, trust, and family.
Much of the film's comic glamor rests on Dory's forgetfulness, itself, but the incredible charm from new and returning characters, can't be counted out, easily. The biggest surprise is Hank (Ed O'Neill), a cranky anti-social octopus, whose chameleon like ability, could actually be Dory's brightest chance in getting back to her family. Marlin (Albert Brooks), and Nemo (Hayden Rolence) are now mostly relegated to the sidelines, but other memorable characters are put in their places to deliver equally indispensible appeal.
In the end, what the film accomplishes could not be even close to what it aspires to be. There is a big part of its charm that doesn't quite satisfy its own ambitions, but what comes brimming beyond such effort can never be rudimentary. 'Finding is Dory' never able to deliver a piece of thematic complexity, but the depth it is able to dig, is utterly unforgettable.