Mommy likes blue shells...

Rating: 7/10 (21 June 2016)

If anything Finding Dory does a pretty good job of connecting the dots to its predecessor. This does not feel like a sequel forced by the executive's hand but rather the natural extension of Dory's own journey. When she breaks down near the end of Finding Nemo because Marlin has given up hope and is left to drift alone in the oceans, there is a suggestion that there is more to uncover for her character than just her goofy, comedian-voiced antics. But that film was about Nemo - this one is about Dory's origins.
For much of the film it relies and retreads the same emotional ground as Finding Nemo did. On its own, it does quite well. The young Dory is practically cuteness overload, with big bug eyes nearly bulging out from the eye sockets and strategically mispronounced words which instantly paint her vulnerability as well as Nemo's little fin did many years ago - admittedly without Newman's gentle, floating title track, which again is familiar, but dulled. The loss is meant to be tragic, and we are supposed to sympathise. Is it a mistake to be overly familiar? Andrew Stanton is asking us to offer the same emotional stakeholds, but has fallen short of giving us the same story and characters worth rooting for.
The film's climax is the most egregious offender. The basic principle behind both is that the child is once again going off to commit a daring rescue - Dory launching herself into the truck, and Nemo into the fishing net. The conflict arises from the parent(s) not wanting to part with their child after such a long time apart. But for Marlin this rings so much truer. We've swam alongside him across the entire east coast, through jellyfish masses, in complete trench darkness, away from a minefield inhabited by semi-vegetarian sharks, even in a whale's mouth. For Marlin to go through all that and then once again let Nemo slip would be agonising. The fact that it was Nemo's own incompetence that led to his capture makes it doubly meaningful - only by finally trusting his son's now improved judgement can he begin to grow and learn himself (we see a little of that here too). It's a very delicately constructed dilemma, and fraught with tension. We get little of that in Finding Dory, however. The moment between Dory and her parent's reluctance is short-lived, and besides the point. Instead of a thoughtful and character building scene we get a wacky action set- piece that never ever seems actually tense or life-threatening. The octopus-driven truck can weave in and out of traffic or go round and round in circles for as long as the jokes need it to be, but we are never made to doubt that Dory will make it back to the ocean.
Nemo and Marlin's inclusions almost seem questionable, in fact. The row which separates the group is minuscule and insignificant; Dory swam a little too fast and Nemo gets hit on the head. This is enough to open up old wounds and grievances about Dory being a complete airhead, which have been apparently bubbling under for over a year. But in the space of a day it is all neatly resolved, with a vague aspiration that sometimes her crazy antics might seem useful. This varying degree of chaos versus helpfulness is noticeably contrived, especially when it involves hair-raising aquatic acrobatics that make Gill's escape plan look like a little tumble in the park. It's cartoon of course, so these things are forgivable - what isn't is the implication that Dory's wackiness is some magic mantra that will somehow get you where you need to go.
Finding Dory's strengths lie in its visuals and humour. Whilst the predecessor broken ground with its water animation, Pixar have gone above and beyond that to present an eye-poppingly gorgeous world that prompts the audience to once again race to the nearest aquarium (and have the new generation of kids excitedly point out "There's Nemo!"). It isn't quite as photo-realistic as its preceding short, but nevertheless looks stunning. Stanton has also shown the ability to build on at least some of the elements that he previously mastered. We had psycho Darla with Hitchcock music and all, but here we have a very original and humorous gag involving a touch pool where fingers becomes exploding landmines and the fish all experience waves of PTSD from the roaming little hands. Overall Finding Dory is competent as far as Pixar standards go - it hits the right emotional beats without complete reliance on the already familiar backstory, and is bright and colourful enough to bring in the attractive box office numbers. But its best feature must be reminding me just how great Finding Nemo was and still is. Has sunlight hitting the ocean sand ever looked so gorgeous?