Finding Dory
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | Release Date: June 17, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
77
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 48 Critic Reviews
Positive:
45
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate TaylorJun 16, 2016
DeGeneres goes much further, though, maintaining a delicate balance between Dory’s optimistic personality and the hovering anxieties created by her imperfect memory. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChroniclePeter HartlaubJun 15, 2016
The sequel is filled with crowd-pleasing action, adventure and characters — sometimes too many characters. But it rises above its crowded narrative with an intense emotional core, taking a protagonist whose affliction had been played mostly for comedy, and exploring the emptiness and loneliness of her plight. Read full review
100
VarietyOwen GleibermanJun 10, 2016
It’s a film that spills over with laughs (most of them good, a few of them shticky) and tears (all of them earned), supporting characters who are meant to slay us (and mostly do) with their irascible sharp tongues, and dizzyingly extended flights of physical comedy. Read full review
91
ConsequenceAllison ShoemakerJun 15, 2016
Pixar’s latest has all the sweet, ricochet-fast humor of the original, the same brilliant animation and rich color, the same winning performances (complete with a few new scene-stealers), and the same simple, staggering emotional intelligence of its predecessor. Read full review
90
The New York TimesA.O. ScottJun 15, 2016
What “Dory” lacks in dazzling originality it more than makes up for in warmth, charm and good humor. Read full review
90
Screen DailyTim GriersonJun 10, 2016
Finding Dory is a supremely delightful sequel. Although never challenging the original’s high standing within the Pixar pantheon, this follow-up showcases everything the venerated animation company does so well, providing plentiful laughs, ace action sequences and a deep emotional wellspring. Read full review
88
New York PostLou LumenickJun 16, 2016
If there has ever been a better voice performance in an animated film than Ellen DeGeneres’ in Pixar’s wonderful sequel Finding Dory, I sure can’t think of it. Her tour de force even surpasses Robin Williams in “Aladdin.” Read full review
88
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldJun 16, 2016
For all the witty voices and great escapes (maybe one too many of the latter), Finding Dory is ultimately a character story, and DeGeneres’ lovable, brave Dory swims right into our hearts. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeMark FeeneyJun 16, 2016
Much of the plot is outrageously, if also cheerfully, implausible — except that, in a context of talking fish, what qualifies as implausible? The important thing is how everything rings true emotionally. Read full review
88
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonJun 16, 2016
One of Pixar’s most charming achievements. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter TraversJun 16, 2016
If Finding Dory lacks the fresh surprise of its predecessor, it still brims with humor, heart and animation miracles. Read full review
85
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeJun 10, 2016
Finding Dory never quite hits that sweet spot of sadness. The film definitely pushes our buttons as it portrays loss and separation, but it never slows down enough to let us ache. Even so, Finding Dory is rousingly entertaining. Read full review
83
HitfixDrew McWeenyJun 16, 2016
Say what you will, but Pixar understands innately that making their audience feel something deeply is the greatest magic trick in movies, and all of their work as technicians and artists are always focused on making that happen. Finding Dory may be familiar magic, but there’s magic in it all the same. Read full review
83
IndieWireDavid EhrlichJun 10, 2016
Finding Dory doesn’t feel lazy, cynical, or like a rehash. On the contrary, it does what a sequel should — it’s a compelling argument for why we make them in the first place. Read full review
80
CineVueMatthew AndersonJun 23, 2016
Finding Dory is as entertaining, soul enriching and bittersweet as any Pixar production to date. Read full review
80
EmpireJimi FamurewaJun 20, 2016
Pixar sequel-phobes be damned — this is a dazzling and technically impressive return to form that delivers a similar high to Finding Nemo without feeling like a retread. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinJun 17, 2016
In the end, is Finding Dory better than Finding Nemo? It’s funnier and more intricate, but the tears it jerks have been jerked before. It’s not as original, not as deep. Read full review
80
SlateDana StevensJun 16, 2016
What it lacks in originality and narrative momentum — even more than Nemo, Finding Dory is in essence a loosely connected series of comic-suspenseful chases, bookended by heart-tugging moments of family separation and reunion — this new movie makes up for in psychological acuity and sensitivity. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJun 16, 2016
Finding Dory can be touching, sweet and tender, but it’s compulsively, preposterously and steadfastly funny. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzJun 15, 2016
Like the original, Finding Dory makes us understand the fears, joys, struggles and triumphs of family. Read full review
80
The TelegraphRobbie CollinJun 15, 2016
Navigates tricky emotional territory with a perceptiveness and tact that isn’t just great storytelling, but could be a real comfort to parents and children alike who unexpectedly see themselves in Dory’s plight. Read full review
80
Village VoiceBilge EbiriJun 15, 2016
Finding Dory might be messy, but through its central interplay — between present and past, light and dark, joy and pain — it manages an emotional complexity that puts most supposedly grown-up movies to shame. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsEthan SacksJun 10, 2016
DeGeneres and company make Finding Dory memorable. Read full review
80
Time OutAnna KingJun 10, 2016
While Finding Dory is definitely the kind of visual pleasure we’ve come to expect from Pixar, its storyline doesn’t always reach the heights of inventiveness upon which the gigantic animation studio has built its reputation. The film lacks the psychological probing of Inside Out, the existential ponderings of Wall-E, the gentle, stoic sadness of Up. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanJun 23, 2016
Finding Dory can be described in exactly the same way as its title character: good-natured, funny, optimistic, darting from place to place, ranging from anxious to frenzied in tone, and unable to sustain an idea for more than a few moments. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliJun 17, 2016
Finding Dory is enjoyable in its own right, even if its powerful sense of déjà vu keeps it from approaching the pinnacle of the Disney/Pixar collaborations. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaJun 16, 2016
Much of Finding Dory is funny, and fun. But there's something kind of haunting about our heroine's memory thing. If you forget where you are, and who you are, and why you are - isn't that called Losing Dory? Read full review
75
The VergeTasha RobinsonJun 16, 2016
The colorful characters don't entirely hide the fact that this is a lesser Pixar film, coasting on Finding Nemo's popularity, and telling a too-similar story that isn't as ambitious or emotionally intense. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayJun 16, 2016
In deciding not to stray far from the first film in plot or tone, it makes for a pleasant, familiar, cheerfully unassuming fish-in-her-water tale. Read full review
75
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallJun 15, 2016
Finding Dory is a good sequel to a great film, and perhaps that's all fans could hope for. Read full review
75
The PlaylistJamie MaleszkaJun 15, 2016
The animated story finds true buoyancy in its social value rather than its creative frontiers. Has the movie reinvented the animation game or Pixar’s standing within it? Far from it, but Finding Dory is a well-told promise that individuality and self acceptance always win. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperJun 15, 2016
It’s a solid, entertaining, well-paced sequel featuring terrific voice work, a clever script and some ingenious action sequences. It just doesn’t quite reach the soaring heights of inspirational storytelling and elevated humor of the original. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineChristopher GrayJun 15, 2016
Finding Dory follows its predecessor in being broadly concerned with comforting notions of home and family. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsJun 15, 2016
The visual personality of the movie is fantastically vivid and bright, the story itself, less so. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreJun 15, 2016
There are enough laughs in Finding Dory to justify Disney wanting a sequel to “Finding Nemo,” one of the most successful animated films of all time. And there’s enough heart and smarts to warrant Pixar making it. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comSusan WloszczynaJun 13, 2016
The result might be less fulfilling this time, but “Dory” is ultimately worth the voyage. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyJun 10, 2016
It’s not Toy Story or Inside Out or even Nemo. What it is is a perfectly enjoyable family film that’s comforting, familiar, and a bit slight, like one of those serviceable Lion King spin-offs that Disney used to ship straight to DVD back in the ‘90s. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranJun 16, 2016
Because no one compensates for a thin concept like the people at Pixar, there is a lot to admire in the animated “Dory,” including stunning undersea visuals and an ocean full of eccentric and engaging aquatic creatures. But, as the 13-year gap between “Nemo” and “Dory” indicates, this was not a concept that cried out to be made. Read full review
70
ScreenCrushMatt SingerJun 10, 2016
Dory is an entertaining and heartfelt sequel, but it never quite shakes the feeling that Pixar, a studio known for breaking new ground in animation, is retracing its steps this time out. Read full review
67
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerJun 17, 2016
There are some rollicky moments in Finding Dory, which comes 13 years after the markedly better “Finding Nemo,” both directed by Andrew Stanton. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesJun 15, 2016
Where "Finding Nemo" capitalized on the awesome splendor and danger of the ocean, this follow-up shifts much of its action to an aquatic park and becomes broader and sillier, or at least reality-busting, for it. Read full review
67
The Film StageBrian RoanJun 15, 2016
In terms of emotional complexity and character evolution, Finding Dory treads the same water as its predecessor with less success. It’s a fine technological update and not a particularly inspired storytelling upgrade. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Jun 15, 2016
There’s something a little canned about the film’s emotional arc; the strings show more than they used to on Planet Pixar, even with DeGeneres providing empathy by the gallon. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezJun 16, 2016
The scale of Finding Dory is bigger than that of "Finding Nemo," but I started missing the smaller, more intimate excitement of the fishing tank inside the dentist’s office in Nemo. Read full review
63
USA TodayBrian TruittJun 10, 2016
While the animation is still top-notch and a slew of new waterlogged personalities buoy the story, it doesn’t have nearly the same sense of heart, wonder and awe as Nemo. Read full review
60
Total FilmNeil SmithJun 20, 2016
For all its attempts to expand the original’s ensemble and embellish its themes, Dory is cod in batter beside Nemo’s smoked salmon. But still tasty. Read full review
60
The GuardianJordan HoffmanJun 14, 2016
The problem with Finding Dory is it doesn’t know when enough is enough. Its believe-in-yourself message is pounded with the subtlety of a hammerhead shark and the final action sequence is really too far-fetched to fathom. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyJun 10, 2016
While rambunctious and passably humorous, this offspring isn't nearly as imaginative and nimble-minded as the forerunner that spawned it. Read full review
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