Making a sequel as good as the original is hard. It’s even harder when the original is more than ten years old. That being said, Pixar does have the formula. ‘Toy Story 2’ came out 11 years before ‘Toy Story 3’; but the third was just as good as either in the franchise. Needless to say, expectations were high for a sequel to ‘Finding Nemo’.

Perhaps it’s the weighted expectation for ‘Finding Dory’ that hindered my enjoyment of it, but the sense of awe and wonder at the world that the original established simply isn’t there. We revisit some old friends, meet a couple new ones, rehash some old jokes, but not much more. The filmmakers seem content to put together a fun, absurdist cartoon rather than an engrossing tale. Sure, there’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s hard not to feel a little bit of disappointment.