I had come back from one of the more morose travels I had ever experienced and knew I need to go to My Happy Place. However, sometimes, when you live up the road, getting to Disney World is a bit of a production. THere's animals and food and money and gas and time there and back and lines and.....and...
But a movie? How's about a Disney movie?
I wish I could say "spoilers" at some point in this review, but, really, do you not know, by now, what's going to be happening in a Disney/Pixar sequel? If you don't, that's kosher on some level. Pixar does tend to mix in some truly original approaches (80 year olds sword fighting in a balloon? Look at Up/Frat initiation with monsters? Look at Monsters University), and, to some extent, their own original send ups (Tangled is massively creative), but overall, you are aware of their delicious witty timeless commentary, their upbeat understandings, and their positive endings.
Finding Dory fills each of the boxes. But, really, nothing more. Instead of Nemo being lost, it's Dory's history and realizing her failing memory from the first movie is the impetus for a new adventure. So? For some reason, her memory comes back and she decides to find the family she had forgotten about. Cue music.
The sea, however, covered so expansively in the first movie, doesn't hold much more for them to discover, so now the action is moved to an animal rescue facility and the cute characters within. And, just like in every Pixar movie, stars line up to say their three lines and get on the marquee. But unlike usual padding of resumes, there's something to be said about the scripting. Yes, this is a rehash, but there's still some fun things going on. And it's always a good idea to get in on the fun. That's what these stars are doing.
Outstanding is Ed O'Neill, of Modern Family and Married with Children fame, as another curmedgoen, this time, in the color changing octopus named Hank. His character is fully fledged with fears and concerns and it plays well with the optimist that is Dory. All cool things? Dory's memory concerns are treated like a learning disability and I appreciated it. It showed the stress the parents were under and the ways they addressed it. If felt this added a heart to a supporting character. Ellen's protrayal was as a comedic relief, a supporting character in the first movie. Such a decision made sense when moving her to a protagonist.
Where the movie fails? Well, animations run on the edge of our reality or fully in another reality. That's the glory of it. A glimpse into a world that isn't as visible to us. The toys in Toy Story are still bound by the realities of our own; and, in the original Finding Nemo, the same thing applied. However, here? The interactions between humans and the fish go a bit extreme in that department, especially in an overlong third act, where they steal a truck (!).
Fact was, however, since I had been on the journey for so long, I didn't truly mind. And kids won't care. But? Still? I wish they had held to their usual high expectations for themselves all the way through. By that point, you could see the Pixar heads' aggravation with Disney treating them like a cash cow. You could hear them saying, "fine, you want a sequel? Dang...here's YOUR BLOODY SEQUEL! Now shut it while we make more of the movies we want to see!!!!"
That being the case? Yeah, a good movie. Not a great one, by any sense. Not the deep artwork we saw before, just a joyous engagement. Watch if you want, but don't worry, you're not missing canon or anything.
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