Finding Dory

I’ve never been crazy about Finding Nemo. I think of it as a perfect family Pixar film that looks great and stuffs the audience with the right values combined with humour and suspense. Good craftsmanship, but I just prefer the more daring, cheeky and contrived films with rats cooking in a restaurant or pensioners putting a million balloons on their house and flying off to Argentina with a fat Asian scout. Finding Dory wasn't a particularly anticipated film for me, so I can't speak to disappointment, but the fact is that it's another completely unnecessary animated film from a studio that was considered the absolute top of its field just a few years ago. It's not a weak Cars 2, but it's far too similar to the first one, only with less interesting supporting characters and starring a talkative heroine who is more annoying than entertaining. It looks great, the jokes work as they should, and it's touching in the right places, but that's it. Finding Dory feels like it's going to neutral, banking on the fact that people will come anyway because they like Nemo and probably want to see the same thing, only with a blue fish instead of an orange one. I'd like more than that, though. I'm used to a bit more class and ambition from this bunch. (16/05/2017)

Naturally, it’s much weaker than the great first one for a number of simple reasons. Firstly, it basically replicates the same thing, the only difference being that it's a constant one-on-one search throughout, and the motif of wandering through a choppy ocean has completely disappeared in favour of splashing around in the same place. Secondly, although Dory is an effective secondary character who, with her stupidity, was a suitable complement to the brooding Marlin, as the protagonist she becomes boring after a while, and also very annoying. And thirdly, there’s a dangerous lack of good supporting characters, of whom only Hank the octopus blindly driving a truck will gain any real sympathy (I was very disappointed by the absence of the aquarium fish from Sydney). Despite all this, it's still satisfyingly funny, there's always something going on (except for the obligatory moments of moralising and hugging) and the final action set-piece inspired by Inception, complete with “What a Wonderful World”, is even, to put it bluntly, one of the most accomplished of the whole year. If there's another instalment, it should have a completely new concept and include veterans of the original film, which, unlike Dory, we remember and will never forget... (03/02/2017)

After thirteen long years, the sequel to the now classic animated film sees the light of the world, this time giving more space to the funniest character of the first part, Dory, a very likable blue fish with a term memory-loss who likes to talk, swim and sing. I was a bit worried about how the film would turn out, after all it's been a long time since Finding Nemo, but I was very, very pleasantly surprised and left the cinema satisfied. The story is enhanced with new characters that are entertaining and not flat, like the octopus and the whale shark. The plot is filled with both action and humor, so there wasn't much opportunity for dead spots. And as far as the animation is concerned, it's once again gorgeous, full of colour and ideas. In short, a solid successor that doesn’t put its predecessor to shame. (17/06/2016)

The fact that this is a pure marketing sequel in order to launch a merchandising tsunami (mimiDora, as the cutest small fish of all time, is directly asking for it, and I am surprised that my son did not want me to buy a him fish on the way from the cinema) and not a sequel made to say something new about the characters/the world (and such sequels were never unfamiliar to Pixar), so it's not bad at all. Mainly because it is basically the same like two peas. The main downside is Dory herself, who works great as a supporting character, but much worse as the main character, as you will quickly become tired of her energy and forgetfulness. However, she is backed by new characters, especially Hank the octopus. In many scenes he is the only main driving force that is pulling strings. It will pleasantly surprise you how well it works in terms of emotions. Which is balanced by the unnecessary escapade final rescue action and the Marlin/Nemo duo, who are here purely out of duty. Watching this is like a torture, especially how the creators forcibly incorporate them into the center of events and at the same time sideline them throughout the whole footage. (24/06/2016)

A fine sequel which focuses on my favorite - memory loss. This time they are trying to find parents, not a child. New characters, an aquarium full of adventure and the outrageously cute little Dora. I’m not sure that this brought any new revelations, but personally I was very pleased to return to this undersea world. Superb. (02/04/2018)