Overall Rating:
Score: 8.2/10
Grade: A-
Family-Friendliness Scale: Level 4 (Great)
Kids ages 6+
Kids ages 6+
How would you feel if your Dad was working for an illegal operation? Well, you're probably like Max then.
The third (and final) installment of the groundbreaking Free Willy series follows the nine-year old boy, who goes on a fishing trip with his Dad, who works on an Orca-hunting vessel. Meanwhile, Jesse, now in his late-teens, decides to help Randolph and a group of Marine scientists figure out why the Orca population has suddenly gone down. Finding a spear in Willy's tail, Jesse and Randolph venture out further into the sea, only to figure out that they are going on the ride of their lives.
Positive Notes
Free Willy 3 takes the inspirational animal story to a whole new direction. Throughout the film, we get educational bits on whales and their behaviors. And the film gets bonus points, for at the end (spoiler alert), we see Willy's mate Nikki give birth to a precious baby Orca. Also in the film are solid examples of standing up for what you believe is right, family bonding, and that parents, every once in a while, should listen to their kids. Max and his dad restore their relationship by the films' end.
Jesse also learns a thing or two about, well, doing things on his own. He takes the freedom to solve things by himself, and even tries to be a good role model for Max (while trying to convince him to tell him his Dad is an orca hunter). In my personal interests, the film had a thrilling plot that featured a CSI-like mystery that has unpredictable turning points. The cast act out their parts extremely well.
Negative Notes
Whale-hunting scenes do feature a couple of brief intense shots that might scare some young kids. Willy gets hit in the tail with a spear, is close to being plunged with a knife several times by a person underwater, and another whale is killed off-screen. We see a brief comical fight in a bar, where we also see people drink and smoke. Language isn't much, though we do hear two h-words and one "crap".
Conclusion
Lets' take a trip back in time briefly. The original Free Willy saw a foster child named Jesse going to live with new parents and finding a new friend in an Orca. The second one, The Adventure Home, saw Jesse trying to save Willy and his friends from a deadly oil spill. This one, its' quite different, we now see Jesse and Randolph taking a back-seat to a new character named Max and his dad.
Not to say there's anything wrong with that. Because in my opinion, this is probably the most thrilling movie in the entire series. I'm a huge fan of mystery solving that doesn't involve murder, and this one certainly fills in what I'd like to call, "my requirements".
And that's not the only thing I smiled at. The whale birth is awe-inspiring and precious. The language is far less of an issue than The Adventure Home, and the characters are just as engaging as before. Now, for families with young children, parents may need to explain to their kids about the cruelty of whale hunting (in their understanding).
But this third Willy adventure is probably one of the best threequels I've seen, compared to several others that try so hard to live up to their predecessors, and fail.
