The Prodigal Fish Returns
Disney Pixar loyalists, animation buffs and fish enthusiasts, in the wake of well-received sequels for Toy Story (1995), Monsters, Inc. (2001) and Cars (2006), might have justly deemed it utterly tragic that the artists behind some of the most iconic Disney pictures and characters in the world had not dived in to waters of boundless possibilities for story and character development gracefully but teasingly left uncharted by the end of Finding Nemo (2003). Thirteen years later, risks have been taken; courage has paid off. Dreams have come true and hopes have been realised with the return of some of the most adorable animated characters in cinema history.
Not infrequently do fears of déjà vu rise above the waters that share much in common with all sequels past and current, from Jason Bourne (2016) to Bridget Jones's Baby (2016). In the end, however, these concerns are fortunately almost always swept away within moments by unstoppable tides, rising in the form of the sheer eloquence and magnetism of sympathetic but nonetheless genuine adoration of Dory's more prevalent presentation under the spotlight this time around. Ears may be flooded by the distinct qualities of Thomas Newman's emotionally-charged musical score that never fails to demand tears of both joy and sadness at its leisure, with the sprinkles of magic that have consistently oozed from his works, which include other Disney treasures like WALL.E (2008) and Saving Mr Banks (2013). Moreover, eyes may be excessively indulged by the vibrant and masterful animation that successfully conveys the emotional turbulence of the cranky but not quite heartless octopus in particular, not dissimilar to the alluring facial expressions, underpinned by amusing eye movements especially, of another vibrant animal in Wallace and Gromit: A Grand Day Out (1990). Ultimately, there are plenty of buried treasures uncovered throughout the well-paced adventure to warrant a great number of relieved breaths.
By comparison with previous summers, 2016 has frankly been a much less explosive and memorable one as far as the roster of blockbuster movies is concerned. mainly because the standard has been set that high in the land of the silver screen. Therefore, Summer 2016 has by no means been a bad one. Thus, while the competition might not have been as fierce as it has been in the past for the top prize in audience minds as their favourite summer chill-out session, Finding Dory (2016) remains, with all but total certainly, a worthy winner of that honour in audience hearts, not least for the film's ability to break and fix them in an instant with notions of unbreakable family bonds and undying family love as its key ingredients, bearing fruits far better than even its most hardcore fans could have anticipated. On this occasion, it is perhaps not a cheap marketing ploy when artists behind the movie state in interviews words of assurance for the notion that you are allowed and indeed expected to cry, for you may, without a doubt, at least want to, after seeing sides to a beloved sapphire-blue fish, which, while clearly familiar, remain as inspiring as ever before.
THE VERDICT: 9/10
