À Procura de Dory

Who would have thought one of the deepest films ever made about learning disabilities would star a talking blue fish?

It's gorgeous. It's lively. It's got terrific performances from a strong voice cast. It's emotionally affecting without being heavy-handed.

Being a Pixar film it is, of course, eye-poppingly rich with color and detail. (The glowy underwater light of the film is particularly breathtaking).

Much like its titular character, it keeps swimming, and in doing so teaches all of us life lessons that we likely already knew yet still could use to revisit all the same.

Before a somewhat cluttered conclusion, Finding Dory is a truly touching film, graceful in its exploration of identity, family, and the way they intersect.

The central irony of Finding Dory is that Dory is a risk-taker trapped in a movie that, for all its likability, won't join her on whimsical leaps.

While not as visually dazzling as its predecessor, the film is still colorful and immersive; the script, while predictable, puts an engaging spin on the issues of home and identity.

Dory's visual palette is such a joy to look at, drawing on the deep blues and greens of the underwater expanse and ocean-dwelling algae.

'Finding Dory' in the wake its predecessor, the now-legendary 'Nemo,' was no small task... delightfully pleasing on every level...

Hank the octopus is a particular standout … his mad skills are highly entertaining - so entertaining, in fact, that I kind of wish the movie had been about him.

Nuanced and tender-hearted.

As the 13-year gap between "Nemo" and "Dory" indicates, this was not a concept that cried out to be made.

It's a sequel that's a continuation of the original film rather than an expansion of it, and it is still a success, though not a triumph.

It's a solid, entertaining, well-paced sequel featuring terrific voice work, a clever script and some ingenious action sequences.

Any fan of Pixar already knows what they are going to get at Finding Dory: a mix of charm, wit and intelligence, combined with animation so routinely spectacular that a reviewer might not even think to mention it until the end of his review.

The film is often visually striking and charming enough, but it's low on two things we've come to expect from Pixar: comedy and moving emotional moments.

There are some rollicky moments in Finding Dory... [But] the inventiveness of the animation is not matched by the frayed workmanship of the story line.

Stanton is a born comic-fantasy director.

[Finding Dory] is flat-out terrific, even a little subversive.

It is nice, especially at this precise moment, to believe that evil and cruelty don't necessarily have to exist in the world: that even in the great big ocean, a couple of small fish looking for help can always depend on the kindness of strangers.