Average Pixar is Still Pretty Good
Finding Dory is the sequel to Pixar's 2003 smash hit Finding Nemo, and like some other Pixar franchise follow ups, it doesn't surpass its predecessor, but it's still above average. The film doesn't revolutionize the sequel format, but it is nonetheless a fun, emotional journey. The fact that such an experience isn't as special as Inside Out or Toy Story 3 tells you just how high a bar Pixar has set for itself, and just how good they are at crafting quality entertainment.
Finding Dory finds our Nemo protagonists adjusting to everyday life a year after their first adventure. When something triggers a rush of old memories in Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), who suffers from short term memory loss, she sets out with Marlin (Albert Brooks) and Nemo (Hayden Rolence) to find her parents. This leads them to the Marine Life Institute in Morro Bay, California, a fictional rehabilitation and aquatic facility in the mold of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. While the first film featured a breakout story, this one is more like an infiltration. Getting out of the ocean and into a network of tanks and exhibits is refreshing, allowing the animators to stay in the water while exploring something totally different from what is featured in the first film, not to mention explore an aquarium from the fish's perspective, something Pixar excels at. A standout sequence involves Dory and a people and ocean-phobic octopus named Hank (Ed O'Neill) stuck in an interactive kiddie pool as children's hands jut into the water like pylons driven into the ground.
A another asset to the story is its frequent use of flashbacks. Though normally a drag in a film, here they help to flesh out Dory's character and backstory. They're quick, emotional, and help move the story along to enough of a degree that they become a welcome addition rather than something that slows the film down. On the whole, the film moves at a quick pace without feeling rushed.
Perhaps Finding Dory's biggest success is making its title character a strong protagonist and emotional core for the film. Cars 2, though perhaps maligned a bit more than it should be, made Mater its protagonist, shifting a comedic supporting character front and center in much the same way Finding Dory does, but Mater didn't get as resonant a story as Dory, and the film suffered for it. This film isn't particularly complex in the way some other Pixar movies can be—such as with Inside Out's deft handling of adolescent emotions—but what it does it does oh so well. When a very young Dory gets separated from her parents for the first time, it's devastating to see that she can't remember them and, more so, that she knows it. The film also continues Pixar's great tradition of creating hilarious and colorful supporting characters, such as Idris Elba and Dominic West's helpful but territorial cockney sea lions, and a very funny role for Sigourney Weaver best left unspoiled. Ed O'Neill is also given a lot to do as the seven-tentacled octopus (septapus?), who is paranoid but willing to work with the sometimes frustrating Dory. Like DeGeneres, O'Neill is given a pretty good arc to play, and he makes his gruff character a lovable addition to the film.
The jokes in Finding Dory aren't always particularly clever, but the film's comedic high points—like Weaver's scenes—equal those of Pixar's best films, something emblematic of the film as a whole. As is to be expected, the animation is absolutely gorgeous, the performances are excellent, particularly DeGeneres as she gives Dory further depth, and the story is emotionally resonant. Finding Dory won't go down as a classic, but it's a fair reminder that even mediocre Pixar is still a cut above most films we get, especially those for families.