Finding Dory: A Delightfully Worthy Sequel

Rating: 8/10 (16 June 2016)

Thoughtful, humorous, moving and inspired. Finding Dory sees a familiar return to the deep blue, offering a new array of wonderful characters and locations. However, despite it's emotionally driven narrative and engrossing demeanor, Dory can't help but reveal some obvious flaws.
In the opening sequence alone, Pixar shows off it's ever-improving technical abilities in the world of animation. From the detail of coral to the skin bumps of Hank the Octopus, Finding Dory boasts an incredible wealth of creative achievement and visual splendor. Even the adorable short beforehand, 'Piper' showcases the incredibly immersive technical wizardry of today's CGI.
Though nothing captures the heart of the film more than it's lovable characters. Forewarning: Dory, depicted in her early childhood years, is the cutest baby fish you will probably ever have the pleasure of watching on the big screen. Aided by Marlin and Nemo, Dory finds herself in a race to rediscover her past and, along the way, stumbles across a fresh set of entirely new and often hilarious personalities. Stanton, who penned the story, does an excellent job of working and developing new characters into the film's narrative without ever feeling like they're overcrowding their space.
The story itself, whilst admittedly not the most original concept ever conceived, delivers and extends upon the typical Pixar formula. This ultimately creates a satisfyingly engaging piece of cinema, if not more slightly disjointed than it's definitive predecessor. All criticism aside though, it's undeniable that Dory plays on multiple emotions, from euphoria to heartache, and even moments of frustration. Finding Dory, however, seems to rely a little too much on it's jokes and low points to drive the narrative, sometimes it works gloriously, and other times it doesn't. Sometimes the realism and context of the extreme situations just feels a little to uncomfortable for entertainment pleasure. But overall, and more often than not, it works, and that is what Pixar does best.
Overall, this is an undoubtedly worthy and enjoyable sequel to the high-status original. Whether Finding Dory holds up the standards set by Finding Nemo is simply up to interpretation. It is unquestionable, however, that Dory is a solid film and another great addition to the Pixar canon. It exhibits strong underlying messages of perseverance, love, friendship and family, and is suitable for anyone wishing to indulge in some great moments of heartfelt entertainment. Words of advice: go see it, leave your expectations at home, have fun, don't talk. You wont be disappointed.
My overall rating: 8/10