Remarkable

Rating: 7/10 (22 June 2016)

After a decade since Finding Nemo we finally get the...sequel? Spin-off? That we've been looking for. Pixar proves they can still make outstanding masterpieces. Lets hope they keep this going, and build back some momentum...we'll see how Cars 3 works out...but Finding Dory may become one of the greatest animated sequels or spin-off (call it what you want) ever. Here's why. Unlike some other studios who would make this a full-blown comedy like Minions with nudity, and fart jokes. Pixar shows how mature it is with their films and reminds us why we fell in love with the characters from Finding Nemo in the first place. Virtually every character is likable and none have lost their niche despite over a decade of time between this and FN. However, when it comes to Dory, she obviously is the star. Now, this is risky because sometimes when you make a supporting character the main character it can majorly backfire making you wish the supporting character stayed just that. Pixar wonderfully makes Dory extremely likable even though she has short term memory loss which you would think could get annoying, but somehow Pixar finds the right balance to keep it charming and even, yes, funny. I can also tell the animation has significantly improved from 2004, sometimes making me say, Wow, this looks like I could swim amongst them in this realistic environment. But here's what I personally love about the film is Baby Dory. She is so cute, but not annoying and awkward. Baby Dory adds this innocence to Dory as an adult making her that much more effective. I do feel like however they do seem to exploit the fact she has short-term memory loss. I thought I was going to get irritated. Even though I said it has a good balance, it did get a little bit annoying, but maybe I'm missing the fact that it is her character trait. She forgets every 10 seconds or so. As for the other characters like Hank, I felt nothing special towards him and typical grumpy character who helps the main character, I've seen those many times before. Everyone else was justifiable, Marlin's role was downgraded but still the same worry-wart he has been. Nemo is the same as the last film, and has a stronger connection to his dad. As a whole, this film is definitely worth seeing. If you miss this one in theaters, you will regret it. Beautiful animation, Dory is likable, other character are good, and the story is well crafted. Now to grade: Story: A- Character: A- Music: B+ Animation: A+ Dory: A Overall: A-