Victoria Strouse

It's been 13 years since the release of the Disney/Pixar hit Finding Nemo, and filmmaker Andrew Stanton has opted to make a spin-off instead of a direct sequel, shifting the perspective to recount the life story of the forgetful blue tang. Because it centres on a personal quest, it's a very different style of movie, which makes some of the action feel rather contrived. But the characters are still vivid and likeable, and it's packed with meaningful themes.

The film opens with young Dory (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres) being taught by her parents (Diane Keaton and Eugene Levy) how to cope with her short-term memory problem. But she still gets lost. Then years later, after her adventure teaming up with Marlin (Albert Brooks) to help find his son Nemo (Hayden Rolence), she has a brief spark of memory and decides to find her family. Accompanied by Marlin and Nemo, Dory crosses the ocean to a California marine sanctuary, where they get separated. Dory gets help from cranky seven-tentacled Octopus Hank (Ed O'Neill), the perky whale shark Destiny (Kaitlin Olson) and a befuddled beluga whale (Ty Burrell). Meanwhile, Marlin and Nemo meet a pair of laddish sea lions (Idris Elba and Dominic West).

Continue reading: Finding Dory Review

Not a single shred of thought was invested in making this movie. There's not one sympathetic character or interesting thought to be found. If half the budget were actually spent on belly shirts and hair gel, I wouldn't be shocked.

Continue reading: New Best Friend Review