The Bat Cave

Starring: Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Ed O’Neill
Director: Andrew Stanton (Wall-E, Finding Nemo, A Bug’s Life), Angus MacLane

Bottom Line: Finding Dory is a more-than-worthy long awaited sequel to Pixar’s Finding Nemo, continuing the story, but this time focusing on Ellen Degeneres’ Dory, a fish that has no short term memory, and the character that was arguably the star of the original film anyway. The movie opens in heartbreaking fashion – with a very young Dory getting separated from her family and having no idea how to get back to them before forgetting about them altogether. Something sparks her memory and Dory embarks on an adventure with Marlin and Nemo to find her parents, ultimately landing them in the Marine Life Institute, where Dory was born. Finding Dory is touching and funny and does a great job of calling back old characters while introducing classic new ones like Ed O’Neill’s self-serving and incredibly resourceful octopus Hank and Kaitlin Olson’s blind whale-shark Destiny. And Becky, a crazy bird that is hilariously wacko. Of course, it goes without saying that the animation in Finding Dory is absolutely stunning.

Finding Dory is great fun for both kids and adults, a worthy sequel to Finding Nemo, and, arguably, the first great Pixar film since Toy Story 3 in 2010.

Replay Value: A must own for me.
Sequel Potential: Pixar’s #1 movie domestically, with chances to pass Toy Story 3 as the studio’s all-time most lucrative theatrical release – all of which is a formula for more sequels.
Oscar Potential: Pretty rare that a Pixar movie this good isn’t a shoo-in for Best Animated Feature, but Zootopia is just as good and Kubo and the Two Strings – which I haven’t seen yet – is sitting at 96% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Grade: 7.5/10 (Highly Enjoyable/Must See)