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. O’Neill’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 sacrifice—learning
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.
