Monday, June 27, 2016

Finding Dory

Direction: Andre Staton; Cast: Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Hayden Rolence, Ed O’Neill, Diane Keaton; Story:  Andrew Staton; Screenplay: Andrew Staton, Victoria Strouse; Cinematography: Jeremy Lasky; Editing: Axel Geddes; Music: Thomas Newman; Producers: Lindsey Collins; Genre: Animation; Location: Under the ocean; Distributor: Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture; Running Time: 103 minutes 
Technical Assessment: 3.5  
Moral Assessment: 4 
CINEMA Rating: VA (Viewers of All Ages) 
One year after the first movie, Dory (DeGeneres) lives peacefully with Nemo (Rolence), Marlin (Brooks) until her memories are triggered by a lecture about migration. She begins to have a burning desire to find her parents and convinces Nemo and reluctant Marlin to accompany her to the Jewel of Morro Bay in California. As expected, the trio has a near death encounter which leaves Marlin blaming Dory and Dory getting lost. Fortunately, she is captured by volunteers of the Marine Life Institute and brought to the Quarantine Section. She meets a 7-legged chameleon-like octopus named Hank who bribes her into giving up her tag so he can be transported to a permanent aquarium in Cleveland in exchange for him helping her get to the Open Ocean exhibit. Along the way, Dory meets her childhood whale shark friend Destiny and Bailey, an echolocator whale. Meanwhile, Marlin and Nemo have their own adventure as they encounter more sea creatures who are all too willing to help them.  
Finding Dory is a lot of fun especially with DeGeneres skillful voice performance that is both calculated and raw. She hits each comical moment, matches the energy of the action-packed scenes and makes the drama believable and relatable. ONeill’s Hank grows in you and most likely would star in the next sequel. The rest of the characters are bland and boring. Story develops with less imagination and overrated melodrama. There are too many unnecessary characters and scenes that were merely included just to add more comical moments. Just because they were executed gracefully does not exactly justify their presence. But because Disney has already mastered this genre and undeniably creates an enjoyable film for young and old alike regardless of its shortcomings. 

Finding Dory reaffirms the value of family from beginning to end. Family in the film transcends blood relations and embraces anyone who shares the same love and care regardless of species. Family in the film also means sacrificelearning to leave one’s comfort zone and letting go of personal gain and objectives for the sake of the other person most in need. Family is a symbol of hope and courage. You just need to “keep swimming” because at the end of the day, you know that they will always be there waiting to lend a hand and be one’s support and cheerleader. Finding Dory is a film for all ages and one of the better weekend family bonding moments.