Film Review: Finding Dory

I think that all of us will admit to thinking it a Photoshop ruse when seeing the first promotional picture. I was certainly within that mind-set until the trailer came along, and I discovered that this was the real deal - a sequel to Finding Nemo, centralising our hilarious and confused tang fish: Dory.

DISCLAIMER: Spoilers are ahead!

I will never forget when my dad brought home our first DVD player. I was only about six years old at the time. Anyway, I remember being so excited, spending the whole school day in one of those childish moods where I delighted in remembering afresh every few hours that a DVD player would be waiting. With this DVD player came my first two DVDS: 'Lilo & Stitch' and 'Finding Nemo.' They are films I have treasured for a lifetime. When taking this into consideration, the fact I went to see this film twice is justified. Finding Dory is rejuvenated by developed technology, bringing back around beloved childhood characters, alongside sparkling new ones. My enthusiasm was unapologetically amplified to return to their adventures.

The opening short film 'Piper', prior to the main spectacle, was a sweet one. I marvelled at the doughtiness of the little bird, and the soundtrack accompanying such a dainty animation was a pleasure. I expected nothing less of Pixar, and strongly approve of these short films in gaining anticipation, appreciation and inner connection from audiences.

On to the film! The music fades in with an elegant, sense enhancing strength as the title appears on the screen. For me, the film's music in particular felt like waves upon my ears, holding unrivalled parallelism with the magnificent and spiritual echoes of the ocean. We then float into the world of a young Dory and her parents, who are teaching her with love and patience how to navigate the world with short term memory loss.

The endless compositional choices available within animation has, and continues, to gauge responses of emotional insight. The fabric of baby Dory is no exception to this aim. Her gigantic and innocent marble eyes, as well as her puerile size, tangled up my heart strings as I watched her search in vain for her parents. Dory peaks from underwater at the starry night sky with a tender anguish that left me with tears brimming. She is but a speck in the vast ocean, and she is alone. Examples such as this ably convey universal themes that bind us all together in concern, whatever age we are. In this case, it is the involuntary separation of a family, and the facets of vulnerability and impossibility that ensue as a result.

Next, we fast forward through Dory's maturation. This was a narrative component that was marvellous, and even comic, summing up the character we met in the first instalment. Dory demonstrates this majestic combination of grit and positivity that she is hilariously unaware of. It is this she later discovers, and what essentially utilises the narrative, alongside the more obvious topic of re-discovering her family. I believe it was important to charter her growth and navigation, as it is plausible that her sanguine personality is a tonic for her confusion and lack of belonging. Dory lightly rationalises why others cannot help her, and why she doesn't fit in:

''Totally get it! Date night!''

On top of this, it was nostalgic to see the brief flashback to how Dory bumped into Marlin. It is evident that despite her own distortions, she has a natural impulse to help. This gears us towards what is unarguably a deserving focus upon herself, and the loose strings in her life that memory loss has hindered. When we reach Dory's present occupation next door to Marlin, Nemo and the 'enemenemy', Ellen DeGeneres had me cheering on the inside. Ellen's quips and joyful persona makes for a perfect voice for our beloved tang.

Next came a weakness. It frustrated me to see how Dory was further excluded by Mr. Ray. This was a silly little add-on just to make sure to propel us into the narrative of Dory needing to find where she truly belongs. It subtly contradicts the ending of the previous film, in which we hope that Dory finds solace in the reef of Marlin and co. What is even more thwarting is that she is blissfully unaware of what is going on, and the intended humour of her repetition of Mr. Ray's instructions is less successful as a result. This is made worse by our discovery later on that Dory habitually blames herself for circumstances in the past and present alike.

The intended inability of the audience to fully distinguish images and dialogue relating to this central factor was successful in so far as it shows us how Dory perceives and documents the world. We're almost tricked into thinking that such a puzzle can never be pieced together. This is reinforced by Marlin's accustomed preconceptions of Dory's habits as the film progresses. However, I can perhaps forgive my frustration over why she is excluded in the place she feels that she belongs, because her determination to remember becomes prosperous from this point onwards.

The varying speeds of editing within Finding Dory were an utter triumph, and did much to bring my entertainment in relation to her character to its highest. The sharp orchestral music, alongside her distressed darting around, emphasises simultaneously her passionate longing for remembrance, and her utter obliviousness to the world around her as she tries to figure out the rubix cube that is her head (see how Marlin is unintentionally, but deservingly, shoved into the sand.)

And that was just the effects of editing! I can wholeheartedly state that the film was consistently entertaining in terms of its humour. Priceless moments were endless. Some of my favourites included Dory's efforts to make friends with dead fishes, her ultimate faith in the voice of Sigourney Weaver the marine biologist, her serenity in travelling with the whirlwind of the turtles (while Marlin clings on for dear life); and finally, her hazily memorised, mispronounced words:

'Soap n Lotion!'

(But we can forgive her for this, because every piece of dialogue is meaningful.)

And now for the new characters! Well they were simply faultless weren't they? I loved the grouse, jaded nature of Bailey the Beluga whale, and how this flourished into a return to his echolocation and a newfound confidence. He is a hero on a personal scale in terms of how he assists Destiny, and on a wider scale in terms of his logical contributions to the reuniting of the newly extended family.

Destiny, however, was my ultimate favourite. The composition of her wide facial features during her sarcastic attacks on Bailey, her desperate diving attempts, and her close friendship with Dory all made her more than a welcome addition. I was so happy to see Bailey and Destiny fulfil their promise of rehabilitation for themselves by diving into the ocean, supporting each other in doing so.

And then there was Hank! For me, he embodied the theme of mental health in the film. He is an octopus that comes across as snappy and self-serving, but it is Dory that exposes the reality of his inner fears. Hank has what we might define as social anxiety. He craves personal space, and vows never to return to the ocean because past experiences of mistreatment continue to haunt him. Hearing Dory reassure him to 'just keep swimming,' and telling him that everybody ejects ink to protect themselves (even though they don't) made me admire her all the more.

As for Hank, it was fantastic to see him face his apprehensions, and return to the ocean with Dory. He begins building his talents in terms of teaching the fish of the reef. We learn here that those who come across as big and threatening can in fact be suffering too, and that avoiding our fears isn't always the best course of action!

By incorporating new characters into the narrative, further entertainment was created due to the obliviousness of proximity characters show once split up. We get the disappearance of Nemo again, but on a more worrying scale when Dory ends up in the quarantine unit. Nevertheless, she has her connections, and she proves our worries wrong, whilst characters such as Marlin and Nemo are forced to face lessons and challenges of their own.

As for the rest of the film, I will say no more! It is for you to go and see for yourself. On top of the above, expect a lot of pipes, fish out of water, fish traversing different kinds of waters, cute otters, fish driving in lorries, buggies, and, well...the impossible!

This film made my summer. I returned to my childhood for round two, and I loved every second. Finding Dory is a beautiful, awry journey that conveys a multitude of universal themes, piecing together a past which none of us could resist hearing about.