A Charming Continuation of a Classic

Rating: 8/10 (18 September 2016)

Finding Dory does something pretty special: it finds a way to organically continue the story that was left off from the previous film without compromising what made the first film so special in the first place. Dory's backstory is such a natural question to answer that it's amazing this movie wasn't made sooner.
There's a lot more slapstick this time around, and the actions of the fish out of water and a slippery octopus seems worlds apart from the world in Finding Nemo, but the heart is still there, and so are the great characters and voice work. Plus, I just love the color the Ocean provides. Scenes in the aquarium are bright and lively and I could watch a whole movie just exploring that tank and meeting the various sea creatures that reside in there.
Young Dory is maybe the cutest character I've ever seen, and her determination to find her family is what made her such a breakout character 13 years ago. This film doesn't really reach the great heights of Nemo, but it certainly adds a whole lot of charm to an already charming world. I hope Pixar continues to make original and creative movies, but if they want to make more sequels they need to look no further than this movie to get an idea of how they should be done.