Finding Dory (2016)

Genre

Adventure | Animation | Comedy

Directors

Andrew Stanton | Angus MacLane

Country

USA

Voice Cast

Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Hayden Rolence, Ed O'Neil, Diane Keaton, Eugene Levy, Kaitlin Olson, Ty Burrell, Idris Elba, Dominic West, Bob Peterson, Andrew Stanton, Bill Hader, Kate McKinnon, Sigourney Weaver, Alexander Gould, John Ratzenberger, Robin Xan Bullock, Sloane Murray, Lucia Geddes

Storyline

Not long after finding Nemo (Hayden Rolence), Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) begins to remember bits and pieces of her past as she embarks on an adventure with her two friends to find her parents.

Opinion

Last night I've finally been able to watch arguably the most anticipated animated film of the year - and probably in years too -, and I'm happy to say that Andrew Stanton did it again. Even though many say it was a disappointment and nothing like "Finding Nemo", for me "Finding Dory" was a funny, beautiful and touching tale that celebrates being different.

Maybe the reason why so many were disappointed is because of the plot. If you have seen "Finding Nemo" it will be quite familiar to you, as a matter of fact the two films basically share the same plot. Only this time is Dory, the adorable blue tang fish suffering from short-memory loss, that tries to reunite with her loves ones.

However, while it's nothing new, the story is still excellent, engaging, funny, inspiring and very, very meaningful. In fact, the (back)story of Dory not only is touching and will probably have you (almost) in tears, but it delivers a great message to kids by showing that people with disabilities, of the mental kind in this case, can do as much as normal people and that their qualities should also be admired - as pointed out by Nemo in the film.

The film also features tons of funny moments for all ages and funny characters, like Gerald the sea lion. He is quite dumb but also so funny and lovable. But in a film about disabilities, it's not great to have an autistic character being bullied.

Anyway, among the characters, we have Dory, of course, which I enjoyed even more because I feel like Ellen DeGeneres did an even better job, not only giving the voice to the fish but by adding some extra personality; there's Marlin and Nemo, and a wonderful new entry, Hank, a grumpy octopus that will eventually establish a friendship with Dory. And the character development is simply impressive.

At last but not least the animation. I'll never get sick of saying how gorgeous Pixar's animation is. Every detail of the underwater world is spot on, the characters all look stunning, and the scenery is simply breathtaking.

Ultimately it is not as good as last year "Inside Out", but it's still worth the time and money.

Finding Nemo (2003)

Genre

Adventure | Animation | Comedy

Directors

Andrew Stanton | Lee Unkrich

Country

USA

Voice Cast

Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould, Willem Dafoe, Andrew Stanton, Barry Humphries, Geoffrey Rush, Brad Garrett, Allison Janney, Austin Pendleton, Stephen Root, Vicki Lewis, Joe Ranft

Storyline

When his son Nemo (Alexander Gould) is taken from him by a diver, clownfish Marlin (Albert Brooks) sets off on a journey to rescue him along with Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), a blue tang fish with short term memory loss.

Opinion

I loved this film when I was a kid. It was the first dvd I bought - well, my parents bought it for me - and I even had a computer video game. Okay, I didn't love it, I was obsessed with it. So I took the release of "Finding Dory" as a chance to rewatch this, and even thought it felt really weird I have to say I've still enjoyed it.

So basically "Finding Nemo" is a nice and enjoyable family film that will amuse adults and kids alike. It's Disney Pixar after all.

The story, which is very simple yet interesting, is somewhat similar to the one to "Toy Story" - two characters are thrown together and they are forced to a journey - but at the same time it is different because instead of dealing with negative feelings such as anger and jealousy, the film deals with parenthood and delivers a message to all the parents watching the film with their kids: it'll come the day you have to stop being overprotective and you will have to find the courage to let your kid(s) go.

But don't worry, it's not all about the message. In fact the kids will enjoy this film mainly because of its nice, funny and vibrant characters, all having that typical Disney charm. My favourite one though, - and I bet everyone's else since they've made a film about her - it's the atypical one, Dory, the blue tang fish with memory loss. She is probably the funniest Disney character ever written and she's superbly voiced by a wonderful Ellen DeGeneres. However, in my opinion, there are too many minor characters. I think the writers should have focused more on some and gave them a bigger role in the film. Like the sharks, it would have been interesting to see them a little bit more.

And now let's go back to the good stuff, the animation. At this point I'm not even sure I need to say this because dah, it's Pixar, but I'll say it anyway. The animation is stunning. From characters to scenery, everything is astonishingly beautiful.