Finding Dory

pixelburp

No thread by the looks of things, dunno if that speaks to a quietness around these parts, or simply that Pixar have become such a mainstay of cinema a new movie from them barely registers in peoples' thoughts anymore. Anywhoo...

Finding Dory was about as close to 'cookie cutter' as Pixar films can get, but if that sounds dismissive it's not; the studio have a template of sweet and earnest films, emotions organically tugging at the heart strings rather than beating you over the head, in a way no other company comes close. Sometimes you really have to sit back and admire what they seemingly do in their sleep. While it wasn't up there with their best work, Dory still managed to make all ages in the cinema laugh and cry (wait, who said 'cry'. It's just a little dusty in here, shut up) and sometimes, that's more than enough.

It was also the first feature from Andrew Stanton since the John Carter debacle, so it was good to see he hadn't been completely black-balled by Disney.

The Black Oil

The supporting characters were the best part, imo.

Stone Deaf 4evr

Saw this at the weekend, really enjoyed it.

Hank the octopus septopus stole the show completely!

thebostoncrab

I thought it was funnier than Nemo....but not nearly as good a movie.

I enjoyed it, but it didn't have the weight and power the original had. It missed that certain something that made the original a masterpiece. Maybe it's because I don't rate Dory as a leading character, but I wasn't as invested in her finding her parents as I was Marlin finding Nemo in the original.

JP Liz V1

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

Saw this at the weekend, really enjoyed it.

Hank the octopus septopus stole the show completely!

Yes Hank was the best

johnny_ultimate

I've always thought Finding Nemo was one of the more middling Pixar efforts - plenty of character and warmth, but not up there with their best. Still, that's only in comparison to their (once) high standards. It certainly wasn't the one in need of a sequel - The Incredibles is, arguably, the only one that is, and thank **** it's coming - but here we are.

Finding Dory is solid, even pretty good at times. But it's another in a worryingly long line of recent Pixar films that seem content with merely being 'good' - if it wasn't for Inside Out, I'd have suggested they've lost their once peerless magic almost entirely in a very short space of time.

Partly it suffers from being a sequel to a film that wasn't remarkable in the first place. The characters here all feel weaker than the best Pixar creations, too many of them - including the three main ones - being one-note, or little more than a running gag. Some of the more excitable setpieces - especially the misjudged last one - stretch credibility and coherency even in a film entirely based around talking fish (the reasonably haphazard implementation of that is actually a notable weakness in this series anyway, compared to the more consistent world of, say, Toy Story).

The story, while pleasingly free from more traditional 'conflict' and not quite as sentimental/cheesy as its predecessors, feels lightweight, and indeed there's a frivolous nature to the film that is occasionally charming but mostly just inconsequential. Take, for example, the film's themes - it's largely set in polluted waters and a marine theme park - both loaded concepts in 2016 - but there's very little attempt to say anything about them. That's not to say it should be a lecture either, but the filmmakers seemed reluctant to rock any boats - certainly lacks anything near the bite of Miyazaki's frequent and artful environmental musings.

It's not all bad, of course. The casual brilliance of the technology and of course the artists' work continue to impress. Dory's flashbacks were handled well (even if the rules of her memory loss were super-flimsy). And given the increasing nature of sequels to 'play the hits', it was refreshing to see Stanton and MacLane get through the majority of the call-backs in a brisk opening act to get to the newer stuff.

Finding Dory is a film, though, that rarely hits the high notes. Pixar was once a studio that seemed reluctant to release a film that didn't reach their high standards, but all too often recently the hopping lamp is not the guarantee it once was. In terms of mainstream American animation, this is probably still a cut above, if unremarkable. But compared to the best of world animation and indeed Pixar's own back catalogue, it's merely 'fine'. The studio isn't going anywhere soon if the box office numbers are anything to go by, but for the 4th or 5th time in recent years I find myself waiting for Princess Mononoke moment - when they push themselves in an entirely new direction and use their incredible talent to create something totally fresh and unexpected.

MilesMorales1

I liked it a lot. Not as good as the original Nemo, much less emotionally devastating, but still pretty touching, and a lot funnier.

Doodah7

On a related note, I thought the short beforehand 'Piper' had some simply stunning animation...

The Black Oil

tallpaul wrote: »

On a related note, I thought the short beforehand 'Piper' had some simply stunning animation...

It was lot better (including the execution) than Lava which was attached to Inside Out.

Jimdagym

I enjoyed Finding Dory, loved Hank and Becky too.
I thought this film would almost go towards dealing with mental health issues given the star but it didnt really.
Whats worrying for me is that this is the start of 5 Pixar movies where 4 are sequels (Dory, Cars 3, CoCo, TS4, and Incredibles 2) at a time where they really need original stories IMO.

pixelburp

tallpaul wrote: »

On a related note, I thought the short beforehand 'Piper' had some simply stunning animation...

Yes, was meaning to add that to my own initial comments; their last short, 'Lava' was pretty poor by all accounts, but 'Piper' was sweet, silly and showed how funny you could set a scene without the aid of dialogue.

Does anyone know much about these Pixar shorts, if they have any purpose beyond being a little taster? Are they launchpads for budding directors or animators, that sort of thing? I keep forgetting to keep note of who actually makes these Shorts.

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Finding Dory is solid, even pretty good at times. But it's another in a worryingly long line of recent Pixar films that seem content with merely being 'good' - if it wasn't for Inside Out, I'd have suggested they've lost their once peerless magic almost entirely in a very short space of time.
[...]

Thing is, is that not a little too harsh and demanding of Pixar? Should they be damned for merely consistently producing 'good' movies, when other studios can barely bring themselves to inject even the smallest spark into their productions (not look at anyone in particular *cough*Dreamworks*cough*). Dory was an entertaining, funny, emotional film that still showed a prowess for the dramatic and comedic other studios, bar maybe Laika imo, can't touch. Sometimes good is good enough?

Inside Out was arguably one of Pixar's highest points across its entire history, but can it be suggested that their initial, pre-Disney output was so stellar, and maintained such a high standard, that the plateau was only inevitable and destined to disappoint. Nobody can keep a perfect streak going and perhaps if sequels like Dory are the 'one for them' that Pixar need to pay so they can keep making 'one for us' with Inside Out, that seems like a fair price.

Maybe Pixar should be seen more like the Coen Brothers; for every No Country for Old Men, there must be a Hail Caeser, the brothers just blowing off some steam between passion projects.

johnny_ultimate

The problem is that it's quite a distance from 'one for you, one for us' . Look at the last seven films Pixar have released - for my money Inside Out is the only one that comes close to realising what we all know Pixar can achieve. Even their latest 'original' efforts - The Good Dinosaur and Brave - feel creatively tepid, even if they do have some decent bits (Brave more so). Honestly, when it comes to stuff like the OTT final setpiece of Finding Dory, I'd say it's fairly interchangeable with other American animation houses.

Yeah, it's unreasonable to expect another winning streak like Ratatouille to Toy Story 3 one, which was an incredible series of films (and would have been several films longer without Cars sitting in the middle). But at the moment the balance feels much more balanced towards the 'decent' than the 'magnificent'. Pixar in a way have themselves to blame - certainly audience expectations can and should be tempered, but they've shown a far better batting average than they have recently. The Coens, in contrast, might make 'lighter' films in between their brooding ones, but with Intolerable Cruelty / The Ladykillers excepted even their frivolous efforts abound with cinematic ingenuity, commitment and artistry, more so than your typical Pixar sequel sadly.

I have to say it again, but the man really putting Pixar to shame at the moment is Mamoru Hosoda. His last three films have been hugely accessible and commercially successful (in Japan anyway), but they boast the sort of uncommon creativity and narrative depth Pixar once seemed to be so reliable for.

FunLover18

A "decent" Pixar film (excluding the Cars films) is still miles ahead of anything on offer from other studios let alone just animation studios in terms of storytelling and characters.

I loved this. I agree with you johnny about the final set-piece, definitely more 'childish' but it's not new to Pixar (Toy Story 2 also featured main characters driving a vehicle) and I'm willing to forgive them for the otters' cuddle party. I think this film also said a lot about disability and overcoming disability without being preachy.

Nervous Wreck

I really liked Cars. Not their best but got a weirdly bad rap, imo. Possibly because it was thought to be more geared towards kids but that didn't really come across in the narrative to me. Long time since I've seen it and I never saw the sequel but I thought it was solid.

Finding Dory was great. Lots of fun, lots of heart. Not as good as the original but a very worthy sequel. The child who did the voice for Nemo this time around got it absolutely spot on; can't believe how similar he sounded to the original kid.

sryanbruen

I thought Finding Dory was a great sequel and was nearly as good as Finding Nemo.