I saw this movie a few days ago with zero expectation. I mean, I expected it to be "good" of course, but that was it.
Well, it is "good," but it's the type of good that left me with a smile on my face. I pretty much agree with Mater - is Finding Dory as good as Finding Nemo? No. However, the film never entered the "does it need to exist?" territory for me. And there's a few reasons for this.
One, is that it's without question Dory's story, and its themes feel both familiar to Finding Nemo, but also different, a technique executed far better than Kung Fu Panda 3 in comparison to KFP1. If Finding Nemo's biggest theme is "letting go/growing up," then Finding Dory's biggest theme is "faith." As in, it's worth putting your faith in people, even if it seems like they won't always come through. It's shown with Becky, it's shown with Dory, it reaches its climax when Dory "follows the shells" (those who've seen the movie will know what I'm talking about).
The second is that the tone is quite different, and I feel this is both the film's strength and weakness. It's both simultaniously darker than Finding Nemo, yet more comedic. On one hand, Dory's short-term memory loss is well and truly portrayed as a mental illness here, and that comes through as to how (spoiler) snaps at her towards the start, and how her (spoiler) deal with her in the flashback sections. Yet there's a lot of comedy as well, not just from new characters like Hank, Destiny, and Bailey (who I all love), not just from Becky's near-insanity, but from the general tone and banter in the movie (e.g. the Destiny/Bailey animosity, and the clam who, ahem, 'opens up'). However, I do feel it works to the film's detriment in the ending sequence, where, without spoilers, we have slow motion, certain music playing, and a tacked-on feeling after Dory (spoiler).
So, yes, Finding Dory is good. Not as good as Finding Nemo, and out of all the Pixar films I've seen, it takes the #7 spot. It doesn't get into this year's top ten list for me, but it's more like a #11, and is the third best animated film I've seen in theatres this year. Given the position that (spoiler and spoiler) are in at the film's end, I'd still be iffy about a third film. Like I said, Finding Nemo is the character arc of Marlin and Nemo, Finding Dory is the character arc of Dory, and while I could see a "Finding Hank" movie existing, I don't think it's needed, even though he had me in stitches. But yes, this film was a lot of fun.
Oh, and also agree with Mater, that "Piper," the short film before Finding Dory proper, is good as well. Great use of telling a story without dialogue, great animation, and Piper himself is adorable.
Caramel Frappe said:
I don't usually like Disney sequels. Have you seen them for yourself? It feels like a cash grab because really, the main conflict was resolved and the original movie had WAY more effort / thought / soul placed into it.
Disney sequels, yes, but I don't consider Pixar part of Disney myself. I mean, sure, they're part of Disney from a business sense, but I usually look at the Disney Animated Canon and Pixar's output as separate things. I will say that I don't think Toy Story 2 or 3 surpass the original, but all of them are still solid films in their own right (haven't seen Monsters University, so can't compare that to the original).
LongAndShort said:
The question I've got is: Does Bruce and his mates make a reappearance? 'Cause if the nice sharks (not mindless eating machines) aren't in it than I don't give a fuck about anything else.
No. Though Destiny IS a whale shark who's nice, so there's that.
Samtemdo8 said:
Now I worry if Increadibles 2, even with Brad Bird at the helm, would even exceed the first movie at all. Because what made the first movie great was the whole theme of Superheroes now in hiding.
I just feel the sequal is at risk of just being an Avengers/Fantastic Four clone....as in just part for part exactly like the Avengers with no identity to call it its own.
Y'know, I've never really understood the appeal of the Incredibles. I mean, it's a good film, but...that's about it for me. A good action superhero flick (takes the #10 spot on my Pixar list). It was arguably already a Fantastic 4 clone from the start.
On the other hand, I am aware that Incredibles 2 would exist in an era where superheroes are Hollywood's jam right now (and audiences' as well apparently), so that leaves Pixar in the position of either subverting/parodying that trend, getting on the band-wagon, or following their own tune. I think Incredibles 2 has more reason to exist than some other Pixar sequels, but with Finding Dory being as good as it was, I find myself less interested. More interested than Cars 3, mind you, but still, Incredibles is something I've always had apathy towards. A guess a sequel can only go up for me.