Finding Dory = Finding Nemo 2?

The film we have all been waiting for has finally hit theaters, and is quite adorable, but very predictable. The theaters were packed a couple weeks ago when Finding Dory, the sequel to Finding Nemo, came out. Finding Nemo was and still is definitely a huge hit, when it came out in 2003 it ranked number one for theaters all across America. Finding Dory, similar to its predecessor, made great headlines, and gained incredible attention during its opening weekend on June 17^th, and continues to make a profit. I was lucky enough to experience this film, opening weekend, and get a feel for its delight and inspiration, however, I have some critique as well.

After Finding Nemo, there must have been, an intense amount of pressure for Finding Dory to be of a great quality and creativity as well. While Finding Dory had amazing production design and animation, I felt that the storyline was easily predictable and similar to that of Finding Nemo. Without giving anything away, I will say that Finding Dory had a cute originality to it, and involvement of Marlon and Nemo, without seeming to take attention away from Dory and successfully make it Dory’s story. Dory’s parents, and other new characters or friends were introduced as well. They introduced Dory as a young blue fish, and she is one of the cutest animated characters I have seen in a while. The animation was no doubt, one of the highlights of the film. Another highlight was the discovery of Dory’s past, which is always interesting. However, what was frustrating to me, was the similar ideas to the Nemo film, and inevitably, the film adapted the same ideas instead of creating new ones.

The film to me felt very childish, and given it is a children's film, I feel that its interest to all age groups was limited. While watching the film, I was almost hoping for it to end sooner, only because I knew the outcome. Of course, I was interested in the story line and how Dory would figure out her confusing life, but I knew the endpoint, and as the story went on, things became more obvious. It's important to recognize, that this film is typically geared toward a younger and more imaginative audience, however, because Finding Nemo was such a hit, you would hope the same for the second. I don’t mean to state that dory is not a hit, because it surely is, just depicting that there is less of an excitement and need for a round two of Finding dory than there may have been for finding Nemo. Finding dory is a cute and fun film. While between both films, I feel Nemo is a stronger film, both films have had great success and fame throughout the world.