Finding Dory

Picking up a year after the original aquatic adventures of everybody’s favourite clown fish Nemo, audiences will be swept away on yet another trek across the oceans.

Originally a sidekick in Finding Nemo, this time around Dory takes centre stage as she begins to overcome “short term memory loss” with flashbacks to her youth and parents, which is the catalyst for our journey.

Early on this story feels familiar and verges on becoming repetitive, catching undersea currents with sea turtles and fending off much larger predators. Thankfully though we quickly reach our destination, the Monterey Marine Life Institute, and this is where the film really begins to accelerate.

Along the way we’re introduced to some great new characters, where once again a sidekick steals the show. Hank the Octopus, voiced by Ed O’Neill, appears to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, which comes into play in both comedic and heart warming moments.

Visually, Pixar raise the bar yet again, with this possibly being their most beautiful movie beautiful movie to date despite a familiar yet touching story. (JA)

★★★1/2