Finding Dory

Let’s get the obvious question out of the way: Is Finding Dory as good as Finding Nemo? No, it’s not. But, that’s not because Finding Dory is a bad film, it’s far from it. It is because Finding Nemo sets quite a high bar for a Pixar film. Finding Dory is one of the better Pixar sequels to come out in the recent memory.

I really enjoyed seeing Dory’s parents and how different they are from Marlin (Nemo’s dad). Where Marlin is afraid of most things and ends up holding Nemo back, Dory’s parents are supportive and push her to do more. The story deals with Dory’s memory condition, how her parents teach her to work with it and how others accept her for what she is.

The new characters are all great and the voice acting was fantastic. I was so into the movie that I did not even realize some of the voices that where in there (Diane Keaton, Eugene Levy, Idris Elba, Dominic West, Bill Hader). Outside of the fantastic Ellen Degeneres and the underused Albert Brookes, I really enjoyed the work of everyone in the film. Ed O’Neill was particularly good as Hank. Sigourney Weaver was great in the film.

The front part of the film was a bit slow. The middle part felt like they were padding out the movie’s running time. But, the last parts of the film were great. There is a slow motion scene near the end of the movie with a truck that was epic. I wish they had been more economical with some of the mid-section of the movie and shortened up the running time just a tad.

My kids enjoyed the film and were laughing throughout. There are quite a few laugh out loud moments in this movie. There are also some moments that made me teary eyed. There is a nice balance of comedy, action and drama in Finding Dory.

I enjoyed Finding Dory and would recommend it whole-heartedly. It is fun, funny and very entertaining.