Many of us worry about the release of sequels to our childhood favourite films.
Will the characters change too much? Will the plot be thinned out with nothing to work on?
13 years on from Nemo, “Finding Dory” has proved well worth the wait; akin to the long gap between Toy Story 2 & 3.
As the title suggests, we find ourselves following Dory as she attempts to find her parents despite her short term memory limiting her.
Considering this film is a sequel and many people who watched the original would love the return of our favourites, it is also a good treat for the younger generation whether or not they have the knowledge of the previous film. It still has references to the previous characters and story of its predecessor, but still retains enough originality for new viewers (especially young children) to enjoy.
We return to see Dory still voiced by the talented Ellen DeGeneres living alongside Marlin and Nemo. Whilst starting her new life, Dory has flashbacks of her past as a young fish who got lost because of her short term memory. Its here that we discover that prior to that fateful meeting with Marlin, Dory had swam most of her life trying to remember what she lost; her parents.
After trigger words jog her memory, Dory becomes determined to try to find her long-lost family.
With the help of a snarky Octopus, a near-sighted Whale Shark and a Beluga Whale, Dory sets out in the search for her family. Through the story we learn more and more about the mysterious past of Dory as she revisits her memories.
At first, I thought the story was going to be fairly straight forward. However there is enough twists and turns in the story to keep the viewer wondering where her parents are as we learn more of Dory’s past.
Best feature of course is the main character Dory, a character that may be dependent on others around her because of her short term memory, but still follows her gut instinct which keeps the story going. Despite her memory she still has a good understanding of what she is doing whether the characters know it or not. As we recall from Finding Nemo Marlin faces his fears of the deep ocean to find his son, now we move onto Dory’s story, rooting her all the way on her journey.
There was good use of references to the original film with the reappearance of sea turtles, memories from the shark attack and that fear of the open ocean. However Finding Dory still remains on plot. One fairly random scene is a picture of the young girl that always shook the fish bag, which was quite random but only a minor nit-pick.
Unfortunately we don’t seem to see enough of Marlin and Nemo. There is enough for the viewer to remain aware of their journey however there just isn’t too much development in their subplot. However their subplot did still have a few laughs but without a central focus.
The special effects of the film are a real positive for Finding Dory. The beautiful use of CGI (more amazing in 3D) showing underwater life really empathises the size of the characters; something that seems fairly ordinary to us is intimidating and scary for the main characters. The animation is fast paced enough to feel caught up in the speed of the characters swimming away with a good use of point of view shots.
One downside I would say is that the film is no longer set in the vast ocean but this time in an aquarium quarantine, which doesn’t quite have the shame shock value with deadly predators. Whilst there is still the threat of capture, it still doesn’t have the same edge as potentially deadly sharks, jellyfish and deep waters.
What is interesting is adding the dramatic side to Dory’s short term memory loss. Her flashbacks to her past run throughout the movie tie in together as we learn how Dory knows how to “speak whale” or where she learnt the “just keep swimming” song.
For all the fans of the original, as well as the new generation of young audiences, Finding Dory is an entertaining film that tells an intriguing story. A good adventure to follow with beautiful animation.
Feature photo credit: disney.co.uk
