Finding Dory is the sequel to Pixar's animated classic Finding Nemo, a film that lives in the hearts of 90's kids everywhere. Like any other child of the 90's, I went out to see Finding Dory back in June. I didn't keep my expectations too high and didn't expect Finding Dory to be better than the original. And was it? No, but Finding Dory is a beautifully animated film with a great voice cast and a strong story with the ending result of being nearly as great as the original.

THE GOOD

I loved how the film was able to build a connection right away to the original film as opposed to just starting of a time card signifying that time was passed. In the beginning, we see Dory as a baby who loses her parents and searches for them for years up to the point where she runs into Marlin, and the original film takes off from there. I loved this. Aside from the beginning, the film wonderfully executes a strong story and strong character development throughout the film for Dory, a character you would think couldn't be developed beyond comedic relief. But her character development is absolutely astounding. Marlin (while still overprotective but noticeably toned down a lot) and Nemo appropriately serve as supporting characters who don't try and steal the spotlight from Dory. We wonderful cameos from supporting characters and minor characters from the first film, including the post credit scenes where we see where Gil and his crew have ended up. The new characters who appear introductions felt natural and not shoehorned in, which was great. The animation is absolutely beautiful was a great experience to see in theaters (I saw the film 3D but I'd now kill to see this and Finding Nemo in IMAX). The film is also just as funny as the original with only a few of the jokes not landing and stellar voice casts nails their respective roles.

THE BAD

Baby Dory can get a little annoying at times and some of the film's jokes are iffy and don't land.

FINAL THOUGHTS

While only a handful of sequels have managed to outdo the original, there are also plenty of sequel's that manage to be just as good as the original and Finding Dory is one of them. As I said before it's not better than the original film but it's almost just as good. Finding Dory is definitely one of the best films of the year and I urge you to go and see it if you haven't already. While film currently doesn't exactly have the nostalgic appeal of the original, in the future, I feel like the film will be remembered just as well as the original. Regardless, the film is another hit that Pixar can add to it's list. I'll stop with the puns now.

FINAL RATING

9.5/10

PHENOMENAL