Finding Dory: Critique 1/3

Nemo and Marlin join Dory as she goes looking for her parents at ‘the Jewel of Mirror Bay, California’.

First film: look for child. This film: look for parents. Possible next film: look for self (like a gap year ‘to find myself’).
        If there is a next film, it would have to be ‘Finding Marlin’ so that all the three main characters get their time in the spotlight.
 
 
                                                            *****SPOILERS*****
 

I loved this film so we’ll start with the problems to get them out the way.
 
 
The Worst Problems
 
There were two factual inaccuracies.
        The tank gang turn up in California, still in their fish bags. How did they survive a year without food or oxygenated water? By now they should’ve died from a lack of these vital resources. Plus, the carbon dioxide build up would have made the water in the bags acidic and thus deadly. Yes, suspension of disbelief is required for fiction, but that doesn’t mean facts can be ignored without them being made believable.
        Baby Dory says that the ‘sand is squishy’. This is a throwback to my favourite bit in Finding Nemo (Dory calling a jellyfish squishy). However, sand isn’t squishy. If the filmmakers are going to do a call back, it needs to be relevant to the current situation, too.
 
As Hank only has seven arms, Dory decides to call him a ‘septopus’ (‘sept’ being seven and ‘pus’ being foot) rather than an octopus (‘oct’ being eight). The writers made Dory be pedantic for humour. They tried to be clever but it fell flat.
            Are the upcoming complains pedantic? Yes. But considering the whole ‘septopus’ thing is based on being pedantic, being pedantic about something pedantic is entirely appropriate.
It’s pedantic because ‘octopus’ doesn’t match Hank. But if Hank can’t be an octopus because he only has seven arms, then no octopus can be an octopus because they don’t even have one foot, let alone eight! So, being pedantic, Hank’s species name would have to be ‘septobrach’ (‘brach’ for arm).
        People might not know this so perhaps Dory could say something like, “You’re not an octopus, you’re a septopus. Although you don’t have feet, either.” That way the writers could have their joke whilst maintaining sensibility. (And the joke would be far funnier!)
     Also, a species name doesn’t change just because the individual no longer fits the description. After all, dumb humans are still called Homo sapiens even though sapiens means ‘wise’ and, being dumb, these humans aren’t wise.
        Plus, even if a species name did change to suit the individual, octopus lose their arms all the time, so much so that they’ve evolved regrow them. Thus ‘octopus’ would be such a common misnomer that it would have to be abandoned altogether.
 
Other things were senseless.
            One character was presented in unfavourable ways that give unfavourable impressions of vulnerable people. Gerald is portrayed as ‘slow’ and he’s used for comedic effect. There are plenty of ways to portray a stupid character without relying on the stereotype and trope that disabled people are stupid. Plus, to design humour around laughing at someone because they’re challenged is a bad look. This whole mistake is terribly upsetting.
           Nemo and Marlin’s colouration is different from the first film. Their orange is currently more yellow-toned than before. Plus, their T-zone and cheek bones are now orange-toned yellow. It’s not so drastic that it’s a distraction, yet it was noticeable enough to pester me the entire time. The yellow tones of the clownfish are also there in the darkness of the pipes, meaning their colour change is not due to the sun. (This would have been an acceptable explanation for being more yellow.)
           The sealions that talk have orange tags and are in the wild. Yet the fish with orange tags are the ones to remain in captivity. Having the same sort of tag in opposite situations is bonkers. That would just confuse the workers, leading to mistakes. Releasing animals not suitable for the wild is a death sentence: surely people would want to prevent deadly mistakes that need never happen?
 
 
Other Problems
 
Hank was the cause of some negativity.
        Hank carries Dory in a coffee pot. To hide from the humans, Hank becomes green to mimic leaves and the coffee pot becomes the plant pot. But Hank’s body within the pot is the same shade as the leaves. Plant pots are rarely green and are never the same shade as the leaves. As seen earlier with the cat poster, Hank pays great attention to detail. So if Hank had seen a plant pot in order to use it as a disguise, he should know that pot-leaf matching colours would be unlikely and thus suspicious. Suspicious disguises are the worst disguises.
        Sitting in the sink, Hank presses a switch on the wall. We hear a vibration and that he’s not impressed, so I can assume it’s the weird American waste disposal. But why would Hank press a switch there in the first place? He must know the taps are the ones for water so why would he go near any buttons?
 
Instances of sleep didn’t make sense.
        Marlin asks, “Do you like a monument?” Saying ‘would’ instead of ‘do’ would have been a more appropriate word choice. Yes, some people sometimes mix their words up when they’re scared. But Marlin has never done this before: as Marlin is scared of everything, if he were the kind of person to mix up his words when scared, we would have heard it by now.
        One scientist snaps their tongs, pretending the utensil can talk. The other scientist uses a disapproving tone as she says, “You’re a scientist. Cut it out.” Anyone who knows scientists knows that they muck around and have fun. When you do serious, precise work, you need to let loose. Plus, most scientists are quirky, meaning they’re more likely to do quirky things like make utensils talk.
        Baby Dory tries to lift a shell and she says, “There’s no other way.” That phrase does not fit the situation. “I can’t do it” or “It’s impossible” would be appropriate.