Dory, Warcraft deliver on the big screen

Finding Dory ****

An all-star cast and a bit of Disney Pixar magic deliver in the highly anticipated sequel to Finding Nemo, but this go-round it’s Dory, a Pacific regal blue tang, who must find herself. As a friendly and loveable fish with short term memory loss, Dory begins to have flashbacks of her bio family, lost to her years earlier. With clownfish Marlin and Nemo, her adoptive family, by her side (more like following in her destructive wake), Dory sets out on an epic journey of self-discovery that has her crossing oceans, making new friends, and reuniting with some old pals from the first film. Plenty of tugging at heart strings, memorable and funny anamorphic sea creatures, struggles and triumphs abound through the writing and directing of returning Andrew Stanton at the helm. Ellen DeGeneres reprises her role as Dory, Albert Brooks as the longsuffering Marlin, along Ed O’Neil (Modern Family), Eugene Levy and Diane Keaton, among others. See it in 3D for the full effect.

Warcraft ***

With CGI so good you’ll think you’re watching real orcs battling real humans, Warcraft delivers an excellent Sci-Fi - fantasy story based on the most popular video game ever created. Though virtually all fantasy fiction pales in comparison to the one, true lord of the genre, J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, Warcraft’s world of the story, complex plotlines, and solid acting give you permission to enter this fantasy and invest in the outcome. A portal between worlds and an evil force threaten a once peaceable kingdom where both humans and orcs have among them both noble and evil chieftains. Directed by Duncan Jones, the son of the late David Bowie, the principle filming took place in Vancouver, B.C. but the post production and CGI work took almost two years to complete. While not as epic as the visuals might suggest, Warcraft has plenty to offer fans of the game and of the genre, who are flocking to the film and giving it high marks, even if most critics are not.

This story was originally published June 22, 2016 at 1:53 PM with the headline "Dory, Warcraft deliver on the big screen."