What can I say? Maybe I'm just becoming a curmudgeon but I just don't find the fact that Dory lost her parents as a child and has been looking for them ever since very (read: at all) interesting. The movie opens with Dory as a small child, who features in several flashbacks thereafter. The cuteness factor of young Dory has been dialed up to 11 in a rather obvious attempt to invest the audience in Dory's plight that much more. But, to me, it just came off as saccharine.
The movie wasn't very plausible either. Yes, I am fully aware this is a cartoon aimed at kids. But we're expected to believe Dory, having severe (and entirely plot-driven) memory loss somehow found her way as a small child from California all the way to Australia all by herself.
Anyway, if I'd been able to find the basic plot interesting, I might have forgiven the movie's list of other other implausibilities and errors but, as it is, they just come off as irritating, and in service of a dull story. Some example:
I have usually considered Pixar to feature strong characters, but after THE GOOD DINOSAUR and this movie, I'm disappointed in how dull and/or annoying the characters are. Dory was fine as a supporting player (and in a better movie) but as the star, she's simply insufferable.
Overall, I have always considered Pixar as synonymous with quality. But no longer. It will no longer be a given that a Pixar movie is going to be a winner.
The movie wasn't very plausible either. Yes, I am fully aware this is a cartoon aimed at kids. But we're expected to believe Dory, having severe (and entirely plot-driven) memory loss somehow found her way as a small child from California all the way to Australia all by herself.
Anyway, if I'd been able to find the basic plot interesting, I might have forgiven the movie's list of other other implausibilities and errors but, as it is, they just come off as irritating, and in service of a dull story. Some example:
- An octopus (actually, a "septapus", as it's missing a tentacle; more on that later) that can not only stay out of water indefinitely and disguise itself as anything, but can also learn to drive a car within seconds and drive it blind with only Dory to guide him.
- A fish tank in the kiddie section of an aquarium, where the kids are allowed to grab the creatures within the tank. This, incidentally, is where the octopus lost a tentacle because a kid pulled it off. And the aquarium was totally okay with this and let the kids go on grabbing fish. GTFOOH Pixar.
- The octopus finds himself back in the tank where kids can freely grab them. Conveniently, he forgets he can essentially become invisible, to force tension into the plot
- The octopus steers a stroller past milling throngs of people, none of whom think it very remarkable.
- Whale sharks are not whales and do not eat fish. This is the most egregious, or at least most irritating, error committed by this film. Did Pixar not do research or did they just not care? Honestly, I find this error shocking coming from Pixar.
- Several fish-eating animals are seen throughout this movie that are only to happy to forget their dietary requirements: sea lions, loons, otters, it doesn't matter. The otters are even willing to risk their lives for this fish they don't know to help her do something about which they have no way of knowing anything. At least in the fIrst movie, there was some explanation given as to why pelicans and sharks would not eat fish. Here, it's just whatever serves the plot. It just feels lazy and cheap.
- I have a feeling echolocation doesn't work anything like it's portrayed here, but I won't make too much of it. But, wow, did that "whale speak" get REALLY annoying REALLY fast.
I have usually considered Pixar to feature strong characters, but after THE GOOD DINOSAUR and this movie, I'm disappointed in how dull and/or annoying the characters are. Dory was fine as a supporting player (and in a better movie) but as the star, she's simply insufferable.
Overall, I have always considered Pixar as synonymous with quality. But no longer. It will no longer be a given that a Pixar movie is going to be a winner.