Worth a Gander

Rating: 8/10 (17 June 2016)

So this is it. It's been 21 years since Pixar first released its maiden film and captured the coveted cross-generational appeal and universal acclaim that brought unbelievable success to a once fledgling animation studio. Within those 21 years there have been some stumbles (cough, cough Cars 2 (2011)) yet to date none of Pixar's films, full feature or otherwise have been critically panned to the point where audiences stay away in droves. Will Finding Dory be the one to put down the giant? Like everything that turns 21, will Pixar stop growing and slowly slide into ill-health?
I'm glad to say that despite being a sequel, Finding Dory is a solid, visually striking and thoroughly entertaining feature. Dory (DeGeneres) the Blue Tang with the heart of gold and a memory of...well a fish, begins to remember where she comes from after connecting the dots of past traumas. She, along with clown fish Marlin (Brooks) and Nemo (Rolence) make the long journey from Australia's Great Barrier Reef to California in order to find her family. Along the way to Dory's ultimate self-discovery they meet a cast of colorful characters including a grumpy octopus named Hank (O'Neill), a nearsighted whale shark named Destiny and the recorded voice of Sigourney Weaver which drones over the loud speakers of the California Marine Life Institute.
Finding Dory hits just the right amount of familiar story beats to keep children rooting for their favorite characters while introducing new themes, characters and emotional textures as to not seem repetitive. Very little of the film focuses on the journey to get from the anemone to the shores of the Golden State (despite it being far further than P. Sherman 42 Wallaby Way Sydney). Instead much of the movie takes place at the aforementioned Marine Life Institute where our protagonists split for a spell. By that point Finding Dory more closely resembles a game of Zelda than a road movie with characters solving a multitude of problems within a finite time frame.
It is the scenes where Dory and Marlin come up with out-of-the-box solutions and take bold risks that remain the most entrancing thematically. While many children's films follow the mold of a moral about perseverance despite adversity, Finding Dory takes things a bit further. With the help of the camouflaging Hank, the echo location skills of Bailey the beluga (Burrell), the unique (let's say) abilities of Becky the sea bird et al. we get the sense the movie is telling us that we can all use a little help from our friends from time to time. Friends who through a diversity of thoughts, perspectives and abilities can help you figure things out.
There were some small missteps many of which stem from the dicey proposition of having the goofy sidekick play the lead roll. In Finding Nemo (2003), Dory's short-term memory loss was an endearing (if occasionally annoying) little quirk that worked well against Marlin's growing perturbation. Here however, Dory is left to fend for herself one too many times. It may sound heartbreaking on paper but on film, Dory's constant struggle to realize where she is and what she was formerly doing gets frustrating after a time. Luckily Hank fills the straight-man void while Marlin and Nemo hurriedly try to find Dory.
In comparison to Pixar's other features, Finding Dory arguably sits comfortably in the middle of the pack. It doesn't reach the narrative nadir of The Good Dinosaur (2015) but it's certainly no Up (2009). The stakes aren't as grave as the original and the emotional core of the film feels slight by comparison. That said, the film's keen ability to solve problems creatively, coupled with some new and interesting characters keeps the film incredibly entertaining to watch. Additionally the takeaway in this case is sincere, will executed and not all that common. Overall, Finding Dory is worth your time to see in theaters and proof that not everything begins to dystrophy after 21.