Rescue. Rehab. Release.
A few years after the events of the first movie, Sawyer (Nathan Gamble) is now a teenager continuing work at Clearwater Marine Aquarium. Meanwhile, he gets an offer from a professor about a Semester at Sea program for three months. But, there seem to be bigger fish to fry that make it an even bigger decision (pun intended). Winter's best friend Panama has died and has made Winter depressed and resistant. Per USDA rules, she needs to be paired with another female, or the dolphin will be moved somewhere else. Will hope come along at desperate times?
Once again, the cinematography, especially underwater, is terrific. We see great views of dolphins swimming underwater, as well with humans. The realistic Florida setting is also beautiful. The acting is again, also great (kudos to the team for bringing back the entire cast) with Harry Connick, Jr., Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, and Kris Kristofferson adding pizzazz. In fact, unlike many star-studded productions, all of the cast is given the right amount of screentime to work with. I would like to say that instead of focusing on Sawyer, Hazel (Cozi Zuehlsdorff) gets bumped from a main supporter to a co-lead character here, which works well. The appearance of Bethany Hamilton was also great to see (though she only appears twice).
The music score by Rachel Portman is sweeping and works perhaps on an even better level than Mark Isham did with the first movie. Zuehsdorff provides a very solid singing performance at the end with "Brave Souls". I also like the fact that the movie focused on the rescue efforts of more animals for Clearwater Marine Aquarium, giving it somewhat of an educational aspect. Strong messages on friendship and growing up are present. Some really nicely-timed moments of humor.
On the downside, the overall story and emotional integrity is off somewhat here. The first Dolphin Tale had successfully touched on emotional concepts and focused on the bond between Winter and Sawyer. This one, the story focuses a little more on the efforts of the aquarium rather than the characters themselves.
Dolphin Tale was a truly fantastic movie. It was a "true blue", feel-good family movie that was moving and extremely memorable. I still watch it every once in a while and wonder why family movies can't be this wholesome and good. But imagine my surprise when I heard they were going to make a sequel.
And the question I was asking was, Why would they make a sequel? Especially considering the first one adapted true events, I didn't think it was necessary, at all. As much as I loved the first one and thrilled to hear they were adapting another true story, I also was concerned about whether or not I would ask the same question after seeing it. Was a second movie really worth making?
But, then, imagine my surprise that I actually ended up, well, surprised. I enjoyed this almost as much as the first movie. It may not hit the emotional themes of the first movie quite as well. And its characters aren't quite as well-developed as last time either. But, the inspirational, sweet, and old-fashioned family-centered feel-good moments are still present. The actors once again give it their all. The dolphins are fun to watch. (and so are the other animals...)
Other sequels this year such as The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Muppets Most Wanted and How To Train Your Dragon 2 all took risks and changed their focus to try and widen their audience. Dolphin Tale 2, on the other hand, never pushes the envelope, and wisely doesn't change itself into something different.
It stays the same. And for 2014, that's a very refreshing and good thing to say.
Score: 8.3/10
Content Problems Families Should Be Aware Of
Language: None.
Adult Content: Nothing offensive. Hazel is shown in a tight-fitting outfit in one scene.
Violence: Winter slaps Sawyer with her tail fin out of depression (he isn't too badly hurt). She also nearly hurts Hope in their first encounter.
Alcohol/Drugs: None.
Other: Hazel acts disrespectful to her father a couple of times (though she later corrects her attitude). One animal's death may be saddening for some sensitive, younger viewers.
