Thirteen years later, the sequel to “Finding Nemo” finds its way into the hearts of many as viewers go on yet another journey with their favorite fish in the ocean. The audience, mostly consisting of those who went on Nemo’s adventure over a decade ago, have been eagerly waiting for the next venture. “Finding Dory” is a heartwarming story of a forgetful fish who struggles to find her way home. It’s about friendship, loss and family.
Dory, voiced by Ellen DeGeneres, is just as lovable as she was in the first movie. She reels fans in even more as a baby blue tang fish with her big eyes and easily forgetful, yet innocent personality. Moviegoers get to know Dory on a deeper level as flashbacks to her childhood are shown frequently. The film is well constructed as they reveal the puzzle that artfully pieces together in the end.
The movie starts off with Marlin, Nemo and Dory all happily living together just one year after they find Nemo at the end of the original film. Viewers are reminded immediately of how bad Dory’s short-term memory loss actually is and how quickly it gets her into trouble. The film reveals her thought process when she tries to remember things, as she talks to herself and rambles heavily throughout the various scenes.
The only flaw that stood out in the movie was that the filmmakers jump into the process of finding Dory too quickly. There’s only a few scenes in the beginning of the film before Dory gets lost. It seems like the story is jumping from place to place whereas in “Finding Nemo” the journey flowed a little more smoothly. “Finding Dory” is still wonderfully written and the animation is beautiful.
While “Finding Dory” an upbeat and funny movie, it also touches on the audience’s emotional side. It’s well-known that Marlin and Nemo are Dory’s best friends, but after all they have been through together, they are more like family. Watching family get separated and reunited moves viewers in a way that inspires them all to “just keep swimming.” Another one of Dory’s admirable traits is her persistent belief that there is always a way. She repeats this throughout the film as she and her friends struggle to return her home. She believes that there is always a way to get to where she needs to go, and all she has to do is just keep swimming. That faith is something to admire. This film is a tearjerker, but will leave moviegoers with an extraordinary feeling of love and inspiration.
