‘Finding Nemo’ is my all-time favorite Pixar film, so coming in 13 years later (wow, it’s really been that long?), ‘Finding Dory’ has a big ocean to fill (sorry). Prior to finally seeing it, I had to make sure to give the sequel a fair shot and not set such high expectations to it. I know from countless experiences that high expectations can ruin a movie. Is ‘Finding Dory’ as good as its predecessor? No. But that doesn’t mean it’s not an excellent film worthy of standing on its own two fins (sorry, again).

The film is set one year after the events of ‘Finding Nemo’. Marlon (Albert Brooks), Nemo (newcomer Hayden Rolence), and Dory (Ellen Degeneres) are still living happily in the same coral reef, but there’s still something left incomplete in their lives – or at least, in Dory’s life. One thing leads to another and suddenly she remembers her long-lost parents. Thus, the events of the film are set in motion.

‘Finding Dory’ avoids issues that plague most sequels by wisely containing a new story and not merely repeating the same plot as the original film beat-by-beat. ‘Finding Dory’ isn’t so much about “finding” Dory as it is about finding Dory. Did that make sense? Sure, Marlon and Nemo are spending most of the film trying to find her, but the film is more about Dory finding and learning more about who she is as a person (er, fish).

In ‘Finding Nemo’, Dory’s short-term memory loss is played for laughs, but ‘Finding Dory’ makes you realize the serious nature of her condition. Dory has a disability that affects everyone around her. Most people don’t have the tolerance to stick with Dory for more than a few minutes, and if you didn’t think about that in the first film, it definitely makes you think this time around. Imagine how it must have felt for Dory to be alone for so long. Imagine how that would affect someone. Maybe short-term memory loss isn’t so bad in such scenarios.

Aside from Dory’s journey of self discovery, the physical journey this time around is different from the one in the original film. In ‘Finding Nemo’, Marlon and Dory had to cross the entire ocean, and they met memorable characters along the way. That time, the ocean was a vast, and sometimes scary, place. This time around, it’s not so epic. The story feels smaller, more contained, and it’s probably due to the fact that a big chunk of the film takes place in an aquarium-like animal institution. I say “aquarium-like” because it’s not really an aquarium, it’s a “Marine Life Institution,” like a fish hospital (do those exist?). Much more of the story is set on land at this institution, but the film uses this as an opportunity to be creative since our main characters are fish and need water to survive; the filmmakers deserve credit for all their imaginative ocean substitutes.

‘Finding Dory’ also has a different pace than the original. Whereas ‘Finding Nemo’ was very well-paced and slows down at just the right times to let us experience the settings or get to know the other characters more, ‘Finding Dory’ is fast-paced and has its main characters zipping from one location to the next in quick succession. It doesn’t really slow down unless it’s time for you to to feel sad, which reminds me, the emotional scenes don’t feel as subtle here; we can feel the filmmakers putting in an emotional scene at precise moments to make us feel sad, which doesn’t mean it doesn’t work, but I appreciate the original film’s more subtle and nuanced approach. Also, there are lots and lots of flashbacks.

The new characters include: Hank (voiced by ‘Modern Family’s’ Ed O’Neill), an octopus with amazing camouflaging ability; Destiny (‘Sunny in Philly’s’ Kaitlin Ols0n), a near-sighted whale shark; Bailey (‘Modern Family’s’ Ty Burrell), a beluga whale with an echolocation deficiency; Fluke (Idris Elba, voicing his third Disney character this year), a sea lion. Besides Hank, these other characters are not as instantly memorable as those from the first, like Crush, Squirt, Bruce, or Gill. These new characters feel one-dimensional, and they’re really only defined by their one big trait or quirk. Hank, on the other hand, has much more screen time and has more to do. His cynicism and short-temper is a nice foil to Dory’s optimism and niceness. Unfortunately, this also means Dory isn’t paired with Marlon like in the first film, and Marlon and Nemo are not nearly as interesting of a pairing as Marlon and Dory are.

It’s tough to judge ‘Finding Dory’ because the ‘Finding Nemo’ was such an instant classic. When I saw the original as a kid (I saw it on DVD, not even in theatres) I fell in love with the film’s beautiful underwater setting, its epic scale, and its funny and memorable characters. ‘Finding Dory’ stands perfectly fine on its own. As an animated feature, it’s one of the best you can experience as it retains Pixar’s trademark charm, warmth, and clever writing. I can frown upon ‘Finding Dory’ for not being as “epic” as the original, for having a different setting, or for being paced differently, but I would be hypocritical because I know for a fact I would’ve criticized the filmmakers had they rehashed the same formula. Director Andrew Stanton and crew deserve credit for doing something different despite returning to familiar faces.

I found ‘Finding Dory’ to be the best Pixar film in six years – the best film since ‘Toy Story 3’, actually. Everything in between the two were merely good, which, when compared to Pixar’s finest works, can translate into “mediocre.” Original features like ‘Brave‘, ‘Inside Out‘, and ‘The Good Dinosaur’ didn’t live up to quality of past Pixar originals (the closest one would be ‘Inside Out’, which audiences and critics adored, but which I felt was too ambitious for its own good). Sequels like ‘Cars 2’ and ‘Monsters University‘ felt unnecessary (though I will admit I liked ‘Cars 2’ waaaaayyyyy more than ‘Cars’. It lacks the clever writing and emotional impact of classic Pixar, but it’s a ton of fun). ‘Finding Dory’ is the closest thing to classic Pixar in almost a decade, it’s the best non-‘Toy Story’ sequel the studio has produced, and for the first time, it’s a Pixar sequel that actually feels like it has a necessary story to tell (sorry ‘Toy Story 2’ and ‘Toy Story 3’).

Most importantly, the theme of ‘Finding Dory’ is relevant and worth teaching children (and even adults). At its core, the film is about not letting your disabilities limit you. These disabilities may make certain tasks more difficult for you, but it doesn’t mean the tasks are impossible, you’ll just need to figure out a different way to accomplish them. The film is also about how family is not just defined by blood – a community can serve as your surrogate family, and there’s nothing wrong with that. At one point in the original film Dory says “When I look at you, I’m home.” She wasn’t wrong.

Three and a half out of four Kent's.

Extra Notes:

• The short film ‘Piper’ is adorable and so damn beautiful. The imagery is photorealistic. It’ll only be a matter of time until Pixar puts out an entire feature that’s photorealistic.

• There’s a post-credits scene and it’s so, so worth it. To avoid spoilers, I’d recommend avoiding reading the credits altogether.

• Apparently the filmmakers changed aspects of the film after having seen the infamous documentary ‘Blackfish’. The original story was supposed to be partially set in a SeaWorld-like marine park.

• There’s a pretty great recurring (faceless) cameo.