Finding Dory (2016) film review

Year: 2016
Running Time: 97 minutes
Director: Andrew Stanton and Angus MacLane
Writers: Andrew Stanton and Victoria Strause
Cast: (voices) Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Hayden Rolence, Ed O'Neill, Kaitlin Olson, Ty Burrell, Diane Keaton, Eugene Levy, Sigourney Weaver

Finding Dory is now showing in cinemas everywhere and is distributed by Walt Disney Pictures.

The long-awaited Finding Dory is marvellously fun and sweet and whilst not being quite as emotionally powerful as Finding Nemo, basks in the glory of it's stunning visuals and colourful characters to remain highly entertaining and enjoyable.

We once again meet the endearing blue tang fish with the unusual ailment of short-term memory loss, Dory (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres) a year after she first meets her closest friends, clownfish Marlin (Albert Brooks) and his son, Nemo (Hayden Rolence). She is living a happy, fulfilling life in the reef with her friends until she quite abruptly starts to remember fragments of her forgotten childhood and realises that she was only very young when she became separated from her doting parents. Marlin and Nemo agree to join her on her quest to find her loved ones which will take them across the ocean to the California coast where they meet new colourful and quirky friends.

Finding Dory is an incredibly charming and sweet movie which takes the elements which made 2003's Finding Nemo work and replicates them, but perhaps not with the same intensity. Finding Nemo appealed to such a broad audience and remains a Disney favourite of many because of it's stunning animated visuals, wonderful characters and obvious, but adorably relatable themes. Finding Dory grasps the first two of these fan favourites almost as well as the first, but unlike Nemo doesn't have a human story gift-wrapped in tropical fish. The 2003 film was the story of a father knowing when to let go of his son, but also showing the power of parental love and instinct. Finding Dory is the reverse with Dory trying to find her parents in a situation caused by her memory loss which is far less relatable to the greater part of the audience.

It was the relatability of Finding Nemo that gave it the emotional edge that made it an instant Disney Pixar classic. While this aspect is missing from Finding Dory, it is still particularly strong in every other area. The film's location of the Marine Life Institute, an oceanic research facility with theme park elements allows writers, Andrew Stanton and Victoria Strause the freedom to be original with the screenplay and bring in a cast of new and enjoyable characters. The animation, much like the original, is absolutely stunning with the brilliant use of colour used to create the world under the sea and the life on the shore.

Ellen DeGeneres does a fine job in her second outing as the endearing Dory, but it is the new characters which steal the limelight. Finding Dory is flooded with new characters who have big, colourful personalities which are built on their physical characteristics and the stereotypes of their species. Dory's ability to speak whale is cleverly explained by introducing whale shark, Destiny (voiced by Kaitlin Olson) who has a sight problem as a result of her natural head shape. With Destiny comes Bailey (Ty Burrell), the beluga who believes he has been injured because of his head shape and has lost his self esteem as a result and cannot send or receive signals the way his breed of whale should. The sea lions (as voiced by Idris Elba and Dominic West) on the rocks outside the institute also provide a great deal of comedy relief.

True to the reputation of sequels, Finding Dory doesn't quite capture the all-encompassing magic of the original, but is nevertheless a sweet, pleasant experience that does entertain and delight.

7.5/10

Muppets Most Wanted (2014)

Year: 2014
Running Time: 112 minutes
Director: James Bobin
Writers: James Bobin and Nicholas Stoller
Cast: Ricky Gervais, Tina Fey, Ty Burrell, Steve Whitmire (voice), Eric Jacobson (voice), Dave Goelz (voice)

Muppets Most Wanted will be released in Australia on the 10th April and is distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. Now showing in the USA and will be released in the UK on the 28th March 2014.

Muppets Most Wanted wastes no time in letting you know that it is a sequel with a song and dance to celebrate that fact and one verse reminds you that the second is rarely as good as the first. This could be translated as an interesting tactic to help viewers avoid this all too familiar reaction to sequels with the latest Muppets film. It may not hit the heights that it's 2011 predecessor did, but Muppets Most Wanted is still a lot of fun and gives you more than one reason to laugh.

Muppets Most Wanted picks up right where The Muppets left off on Hollywood Boulevard after the gang have had an incredibly successful reunion. Kermit (voiced by Steve Whitmere) decides with the persuasion of Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais) that the Muppets should go on a world tour now that they are all back "together again" (cue the music). Badguy suggests that they start their tour in Berlin and it is here that Badguy makes his bad guy ways known as it turns out that he is in league with the most dangerous frog in the world, Constantine who has just broken out of a Siberian prison. Kermit is mistaken for Constantine and he is sent back to the prison and Constantine takes his place as head of the Muppets. Badguy and Constantine are carrying out an elaborate plan to make themselves rich which in turn will bring down the Muppets unless Kermit can make it back in time.

Although this film is a self proclaimed sequel, it's hard to call any Muppet movie this as it is the latest in a substantial list of Muppets films. However it does follow straight on from the 2011 film so the sequel tag may seem more of a sequel to not, but generally Muppets movies can be classed as stand alone films and with the exception of the beginning scene and the inclusion of Walter who joined the team in the last film, this film is pretty easy to look at without using the 2011 film as a comparison. If we must though, Muppets Most Wanted seems like a very different film to The Muppets. It's missing it's emotional edge and isn't quite as wholesome, but this is okay.

This time the Muppets are taking a darker approach (as dark as you can get when the Muppets are involved anyway) and there is a bit more of a mystery and thriller aspect to it. The story is unique to the Muppets sphere, but what is still present in this film is type of fun that the Muppets never fail to bring to their screen escapades. Their humour is incredibly random and often very corny which has always worked for these lovable characters. There are many giggles to be had throughout the film and the ever present various cameos are also very funny. There are no lack of celebrity cameos from the beginning to end and this is part of the fun of the film. As the Muppets are on a world tour, there are various cultures represented in the film and each one of them exaggerated, which is also very funny and none of which should be taken seriously. The cultural exaggerations of Spain are perhaps the most over the top and in turn, also the funniest.

The script is fine, but does not offer much character development or background to the characters. Truth be told that is not really something you would expect out of a Muppets film, but one has to wonder about those younger children who are coming to the cinema and not knowing a great deal about the Muppets as they did not grow up with them the older watchers did. Yet the children in the audience are not bothered by things as trivial as this in their cinema experience. The songs of the film are a downfall. For how many there are throughout, they are not tremendously catchy and slow down the film a great deal with their insignificant placement. The opening song entitled "We're Doing A Sequel" is perhaps the best song of the lot and opens the film in perfect fashion with a bang.

All the voice actors do well, but you wouldn't expect any less really. The character of Constantine is brought to life with a very funny and heavily accented voice by Matt Vogel. Huge credit has to be given to the voice actors Steven Whitmire, Eric Jacobson, Dave Goelz, Bill Barretta, David Rudman, Matt Vogel and Peter Linz, as all of them give a voice to more than one character. Each of these actors therefore show an amazing amount of vocal versatility and talent.

Ricky Gervais plays a bit of a dud bad guy really. Although his actions are evil, he doesn't make the audience dislike him in a huge way. Here perhaps a bit more character development should have come into play. It is assumed Gervais' character is not supposed to be comical, but this assumption is only made as he really isn't funny at all. On the other hand, Tina Fey is hilarious. She truly dips into a completely different character by adopting a new attitude to accompany her Russian accent as Nadya. She is a great joy to watch in this film. Ty Burrell is also very funny and again, plays a great character in Jean Pierre Napoleon. Gervais' character would have been far more interesting if it did have more character.

Muppets Most Wanted is a must see for any Muppet fan and for those who love their humour light and random.

7/10