Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Finding Dory

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Posted by Stu Jamieson (Member # 4626) on 06-25-2016, 06:07 PM:

You can see the logic behind Disney Pixar's Finding Dory. Released 13 years after it's predecessor, Finding Nemo, Disney wish to ensnare a new generation of children in the Nemo-verse. And so Finding Dory is targeted squarely at everyone who hasn't seen Finding Nemo - which is no one.

And this is the problem.

Finding Nemo is such a timeless institution in our movie culture - whether you be a child or adult - that a sequel which in large parts rehashes it's predecessor is simply a moot exercise.

Finding Dory follows almost identical beats and set ups - a fish searching the open ocean for lost loved ones; encountering frightening denizens of the sea; aided by new found friends; becomes "imprisoned" in an aquarium from which they must escape etc. In fact, every element of Nemo has its corresponding element in Dory.

This is not to say Finding Dory is a bad film - it is not. It is Pixar. It is competently made with great storytelling, lovable characters and CGI which is stupidly good. It is perfect holiday fodder for all ages. It feels familiar and comfy and very safe. Very, very safe.

But we have seen it all before and most of us have probably seen it many times before if only under a marginally different title. This, of course, will dissuade no one from seeing it all over again. And nor should it.

6 out of 10

Posted by Mike Schulz (Member # 4297) on 06-25-2016, 08:30 PM:

I quite like it. While I agree with your assessment, there are many good movies that use this same formula one of which we saw last winter called The Force Awakens. It was similar to the first film, but it also had some new adventures that were really fun. The animation was incredible but that is pretty much expected at this point in time for Pixar. The Good Dinosaur had arguably the best animation they have done so far even though the film itself was sub-par.

Overall, I would give this film 8/10 and the attached short 10/10.

Posted by Terry Monohan (Member # 8285) on 06-25-2016, 08:31 PM:

Stu*How was the 3-D on the new Dory? Did anything pop off the screen or was It a cheap Disney 2-D to 3-D rip off like most of their 3-D films.

Posted by Stu Jamieson (Member # 4626) on 06-26-2016, 02:52 AM:

I can't comment on the 3D, sorry Terry. I saw it only in 2D.

Posted by Sean Weitzel (Member # 244) on 06-26-2016, 03:12 AM:

I guess I'm one of... well sounds like the only one who has not seen Finding Nemo. BTW as an aside I have always enjoyed your reviews, Stu.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 06-26-2016, 08:57 PM:

I went into this with high expectations given Nemo is my favorite Pixar film (and one of my favorite films, period). I was a little disappointed for basically the reasons Stu mentioned, but also because Dory's "forgetfulness" got somewhat repetitive and annoying throughout the movie. The writers (according to an article I read) had a hard time integrating this "condition" of hers into the story, understandably so.

I also didn't like their use of "lazy storytelling" which is, if a character needs some kind of superpower or miracle to get out of a situation, so be it...a superpower or miracle they will have. In "Up," it was the dog having a machine which allowed him to talk. In this movie, it's the miraculous use of "echolocation" which in this story is sort of a combination of X-ray vision and super-hearing.

That, and the uber-fantastic notion of a squid (or octopus or whatever he was) somehow being able to drive a truck on a freeway while a fish in a glass of water is telling him where to go stretches the limits of..... well, OK I realize it's a cartoon but even cartoons should still operate within SOME limits. Such as, gravity always makes Wile E. Coyote fall....but in a modern Pixar movie he might suddenly find an antigravity machine that would actually work.

I also got annoyed with how every time a character needed a body of water to float in, there a body would be...whether it was a coffeepot, a fish tank, a glass of water or an ocean. A little more "peril" would have served the movie well.

All that said, the movie is a ton of fun to watch, recycled story and all -- and the last 20 minutes ranks right up there with some of the best Pixar last-reels ever, goofy octopus-driving notwithstanding. And I did enjoy the tag at the end which was kind of the icing on the cake, moreso than most of those easter eggs. So I will give it a 3.5 out of 5, which would have been a 4.5 if the story had been better.

The short, "Piper," is another short Pixar masterpiece. Lately these shorts have been as good, or better, than the movie they're opening, and this is no exception. It's beautifully done, and it's also a movie every parent should see and take to heart, since it would teach them a lot of what it takes to be an effective parent. (For some parents, explanatory subtitles might be necessary.)

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 06-28-2016, 09:43 PM:

Stu: your review KILLED it. (complement)

Posted by Ron Funderburg (Member # 4561) on 07-02-2016, 04:12 PM:

Even with the faults listed (and no small faults at that) its box office is excellent in a year that box office in general is anything but.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-02-2016, 08:34 PM:

Actually our year is going well, but late summer/fall is going to be a challenge I think.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 07-04-2016, 01:46 AM:

^^ definitely agree.

After Star Trek, and Pete's Dragon, the slowdown might begin.

Posted by Matt Russell (Member # 8989) on 07-04-2016, 11:39 AM:

I haven't got a chance to see this yet (work keeps you busy [Roll Eyes]

), but I have also been seeing great business with this film. Not as leggy so far as Zootopia played out earlier this year, but it's still bringing in big crowds. I'm curious how this will play against the direct competition in the next few weeks (The Secret Life of Pets, Ghostbusters, and Ice Age all open a week apart and will be fighting for the family audience).

Posted by Ron Funderburg (Member # 4561) on 07-07-2016, 11:06 AM:

Theaters with limited 3D screens have to begin to make decision weather to play features in 2D only or drop them all together. I find if you have 3D and 2D on at the same time 2D will win out hands down, I'm afraid that the biggest fans are 3D are film companies, directors, and RealD and others with vested interest. while I have customers only interested in seeing a 3D picture in 3D the opposite is far more common.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-07-2016, 12:44 PM:

We made a decision a while back to only show kid-oriented movies in 2-D, due to most people being irritated with paying the extra price only to have their kids refuse to keep the glasses on.

For Finding Dory, we have had a few people ask about it in 3-D and a small handful have been disappointed in our 2-D-only policy on it, but once we explain the why, they're totally agreeing with our decision.

With Zootopia, not one person asked about 3-D to my knowledge

The other factor here is, our 3-D unit (Dolby) has been out of whack for about 3 or 4 months now anyway so we haven't played anything in 3-D since The Jungle Book. Given the level of demand, I'm not too worried about it -- as long as we get it fixed by the time the next Avatar comes out.

Back on topic - Finding Dory continues to do well here, too. Our week 3 has been nearly the equal of week 2. I figured it'd be all crickets this week, but that's not been the case. Very happy with the results.

Posted by Aron Toplitsky (Member # 6950) on 07-09-2016, 07:57 AM:

When Finding Dory was released I thought of seeing it in Dolby Vision at El Capitan in Hollywood. When I saw it was only showing in 3D, I decided not to see it there. Now when I look at the website, it no longer lists the movie as a 3D presentation. While I'm quite happy about out this, I wonder why they decided to show 2D instead?

Posted by Stu Jamieson (Member # 4626) on 07-09-2016, 05:52 PM:

We rarely show 3D at my cinema. And as a viewer, I rarely seek it out. I have 3D at home too but I can't remember the last time I bothered to put on the glasses. As a result, the batteries in my shutter glasses are dying from non-use.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-09-2016, 08:25 PM:

We have a 3-D TV at home which I bought at the height of the 3-D TV hype. It was a good deal so we bought it, but to this day I have not even taken the 3-D glasses out of the plastic bags they came in.

Weirdly, occasionally the TV will say "3-D signal detected" when it's clearly playing a standard 2-D program.

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 07-10-2016, 08:53 PM:

Haven't seen the movie yet, but the short 'PIPER' is a solid 10/10. Nice to see they've even matched the aspect ratio of the short to the movie it's going on the head of...which annoyingly isn't always the case.

Posted by Ron Funderburg (Member # 4561) on 07-11-2016, 12:33 PM:

3D's popularity is on the decline just like all the other times before. The difference now is there are so many companies that are involved it will be a big deal if it is dropped.

Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 07-14-2016, 04:40 PM:

I haven't been impressed with Pixar's 3D conversions since the reissue of 'Monsters Inc.' - 'Finding Dory' was pretty meh in my book ['The Secret Life of Pets' 3D was all bits of fun and visually exciting]

saw this three times in the theater - yes I liked it that much - and of course the Dolby Cinema may have looked it's best, but ugh... the audio was terrible (Captain America: Civil War here wasn't all that either). The Dolby Atmos, non-laser 3D presentation I heard at Arclight Bethesda AND the 5.1 / 3D presentation at (Syracuse NY) Regal Destiny USA Stadium 19 - both featured superior sound (yeah go figure)