Finding Dory - Another Pixar great
One of Andrew Stanton’s gutsiest moves in directing Finding Dory is taking the eponymous character’s humorous quirk from Finding Nemo and turning it into an actually disability that makes Dory’s life very difficult. It turns Dory into a fully realized character, making her a likeable and strong protagonist without removing any of her comedic charm. The movie is filled with humor, nail-biting action, and beautiful animation. What makes the film so strong is the positive message it makes about dealing with disability, a message that echoes its predecessor perfectly.
Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) begins to have flashbacks of her childhood and remembers that she was separated from her family long ago. She requests the help of Marlin (Albert Brooks) and Nemo (Hayden Rolence) to go to California and search for her parents. When she is captured and put in marine institute she asks the help of several friends to find her family and escape the institute.
The greatest strength of Finding Dory are the central characters. DeGeneres breathes new life into Dory, making her a sympathetic character because of her disorder, but still being incredibly funny. The jokes involving Dory focus less on poking fun at Dory losing her memory, instead moving focus to how inherently silly and genuinely funny she is to be around. The new characters in the film are fantastic too. Hank, a belligerent octopus voiced by Ed O’Neill is a perfect side character to Dory. He is a great antithesis to Dory’s constant optimism, but he is also fleshed out and a joy to be around. His grumpy attitude usually comes off as humorous, but when he is mean his words can break your heart, the growth he experiences during his time with Dory make him one of the most interesting Pixar characters in their large lineup. Not to mention how difficult he was to animate, which looks flawless on the big screen.
Ty Burrell’s Bailey is a beluga whale that is as excitable as he is neurotic meaning every moment with him is an absolute riot. Eugene Levy and Diane Lane also work perfect as Dory’s parents, whose love for Dory adds to the heartbreak of their separation, their ability to handle Dory’s disorder is both admirable and inspiring. The only characters who fall flat are, surprisingly, Marlin and Nemo, the strong-willed, loving father and son duo that held Finding Nemo together are pushed too far to the side in this movie to make their subplot as interesting as Dory’s.
The action almost never stops in this movie, moving from one set piece to another, which means the movie is very well paced, but its narrative structure feels too jumpy, not really meeting with characters met previously for narrative clarity. Even this is a small qualm because it finds ways to bring back the new personalities we have grown so attached to.
Pixar has created another masterwork. A film that breathes new life into the animation genre, and tests the limits of the medium. A story filled to the brim with loveable characters, and a great message about dealing with disability and finding strength in your shortcomings.