Finding Dory

The much anticipated ‘Finding Dory’ has finally hit our screens, and somehow Pixar have managed to make it almost as good as the original ‘Finding Nemo’ which, believe it or not, was out a whole (NUMBER) years ago. The story follows on from last time – now Nemo (Alexander Gould) is back to safety he lives with his Dad, Marlin and Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), who is still struggling a lot with her memory, but has been gladly taken in by the two clownfish as she has no other family to go back to.

However, Marlin starts to find himself getting just a tad annoyed at Dory’s lack of memory, as she keeps finding herself in danger. One day, out of the blue, Dory suddenly has a vision of her parents, and so sets off to find them – along the way she is unfortunately captured and taken to an aquarium, and so it is up to Marlin and Nemo to get her out.

‘Finding Dory’ is as colourful and beautiful as ‘Finding Nemo’, if not more – instead of exploring the ocean we now get to explore an aquarium full of vibrant characters and perilous situations. An aquarium would usually be either a calming or fun experience for us yet from the perspective of a fish it is a whole world of horror, and so this adds a lot of humour to the film. Various fish find themselves ogled by creepy faces and terrorised by chubby fingers, meaning that Dory’s plight to get out is harder than one could imagine. 

I thought it was great that some of the original side characters were included this time round, such as Crush and his gang of turtles, and of course the “Mine!” seagulls that were forever imprinted in our minds after watching the first one. There’s also some great new characters as well – one in particular is Hank, a grumpy octopus who helps Dory to escape. Sigourney Weaver also makes a surprise cameo as one of the main staff members of the aquarium (I swear she does more cameos than fictional roles nowadays). All of the characters are redeeming, and it really adds to the feel of an already heart-warming story.

The storyline itself is surprisingly unpredictable for a children’s film, and is entertaining for the whole family. It’s exciting and hilarious but also really sad at points, and will certainly keep the kids glued to the screen. I felt that it was a bit long towards the end, although the final scenes are really fun and so make up for this. What was really clever was how it linked so much to the original ‘Finding Nemo’ film – we got to experience a few scenes from Dory’s perspective, and so this helped to tie it all together. Dory is, of course, one of the most lovable characters to ever come out of a Disney Pixar film, and so it’s hard to see how anyone could have not enjoying ‘Finding Dory’.

The moral of the story is ultimately that everybody has strengths, despite their weaknesses, and that we should love them for who they are, instead of trying to change them into someone they’re not. A particularly important message if I’m honest and one which, when combined with the endearing characters and beautiful animation, is sure to stay in mind. 4/5

★★★★☆

Hannah Read

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