Finding Dory (2016) - movie review

Rated: PG

Run Time: 97 minutes

If you haven't already watched this movie or if you haven't already heard reviews about it, I shall forewarn you now: GET YOUR TISSUES READY, IT'S A TEAR-JERKER.

There. The one and only, OK...rare spoiler alert you'll get from me. 

In its Father's Day opening weekend in June, Disney-Pixar's Finding Dory, directed by Andrew Stanton (Mighty Mouse, The New Adventures, 1987) and Angus MacLane (Toy Story 3, 2010), raked in $135Min the box office second behind the number one movie last year, Jurassic World (2015), according to Deadline|Hollywood (2016).

(Tank Gang)

OK, I lied. Here's another spoiler alert: If you're expecting to see the original Tank Gang as first seen in Finding Nemo (2003), Disney-Pixar's first installment of what appears to be a "series" of some sort, they don't actually make an appearance until much later in the film (USAToday, 2016). I won't reveal when, but you do, at some point, and that's all I'm going to say about that topic. Moving on. 

Storyline

The loveable Dory, voiced by Emmy Award-winning talkshow host Ellen Degeneres, a wide-eyed blue tang fish who suffers from short-term memory loss, sets out on a journey to find her long-lost parents from whom she somehow separates when she was just a child. Dory, who flashes back to key memory details that would prove to help her in the long run, enlists her friends, the father-and-son duo Marlin, played by Albert Brooks (Drive, 2011) and Nemo, voiced by Hayden Rolence (Beta Persei, 2015) oh and the slippery, slimy and always-on-the-go Hank, the octopus-turned-septopus voiced by Ed O'Neill (Married with Children, 1987) -- who lost a tentacle some time ago before meeting Dory and the rest, and a near-sighted whale shark named Destiny, played by Kaitlin Olson (The Simpsons, 2016) who uses her underwater sonar power -- to help find her parents, Jenny, voiced by Diane Keaton (Love the Coopers, 2015) and Charlie, played by Eugene Levy (Over the Hedge, 2006).

The colorful sea bunch end up at the Marine Life Institute where they find themselves aboard a truck bound for Cleveland, known for where sea animal go but never ever return. 

Happy Ending

Although Dory's short-term memory fails her often, her long-term memory is much stronger than she believes that ultimate leads her back to the place she once called home. 

Spoiler alert #3: here's where you'll need your tissues. As she returns to her familiar abode, she finds seashells carefully, strategically and thoughtfully placed in a "star" formation by Dory's loving parents in hopes she will find her way back home -- and she does -- and it turns out to be the most tender moment in the entire film. 

Review

Dory as a young fish is super cute as can be with even wider adorable eyes and a high-pitched pre-teen voice, somewhat resembling that of Boo in Monsters, Inc. (2001). At first you believe Hank will just ruin all chances of Dory reuniting with her parents because of his swift and fast-action shifty-ness. Hank has his own agenda and dreams up ways of breaking out of the conservatory, but he pulls through in the end teaming up with Dory, Destiny, Nemo and Marlin as they swim to and fro, recklessly jumping, sometimes flying through the air or darting like a submarine underwater, back and forth from open ocean back to the conservatory back to the open ocean again (are you keeping up?) all to help Dory ultimately find her family. 

This made-for-the-entire-family, feel-good, warm and fuzzy film will surely tug on your heartstrings. Get prepared for a hits-home-hard-moment and don't forget your hankies and tissues! You may want to call your loved ones after watching this movie, just saying.

Rating: A