Dolphin
Tale 2
“Inspired” by the true story, Dolphin Tale 2 takes
us back to Clearwater, Florida to check in on our favorite dolphin with
a prosthetic tale, Winter.
It’s a few
years later, all of the kids have grown up, and Winter is facing a
couple losses.
Her dolphin pal, Panama, has passed away, which has put her into a
depression.
Also, her human pal, Sawyer (Nathan Gamble), has been accepted into a
three month program in the Caribbean for gifted kids who want to learn
more about marine biology (He’s not sure he will go, but
c’mon! Three months in the Caribbean?!?! I should have worked
harder in school).
Of course, all of this is leading to disaster for the aquarium housing
Winter and rescuing other marine life. With her depression becoming
overwhelming and no such thing as dolphin Zoloft, Winter’s
health is deteriorating at a rapid pace. If Dr. Haskett (Harry Connick,
Jr.) can’t find another dolphin to pair her with and lift her
spirits, Winter will have to be moved to another facility, which will
bring an end to their aquarium and the relationships all of the workers
have with the special dolphin.
Then, they find a baby dolphin!
Will this new dolphin be compatible with
Winter?
Don’t even start to worry. You know how this is going to end.
No one involved with Dolphin
Tale 2 wants to worry you and
your kids with all sorts of nasty talk about dolphins being moved and
relationships being torn asunder. Writer/director Charles Martin Smith
wants you to be blown away by how cute everything is in Dolphin
Tale 2.
The dolphin is cute.
The turtle is cute.
The pelican is cute.
The kids are cute.
The baby dolphin … OH MY MY THAT BABY DOLPHIN IS CUTE!
It’s adorable.
Even Morgan Freeman returns as the old codgery engineer, and
he’s cute with all of his one-liners and sage wisdom!
Smith doesn’t hold back with the schmaltz or the forced,
contrived drama either as we are subjected to an unnecessary tween love
triangle, and a huge, time wasting story about another dolphin that
turns out to be the red herring in this dolphin tale (and we know
it’s a red herring because every ad and trailer for the movie
showed you it’s all about whether or not the super cute,
adorable baby dolphin will be Winter’s new buddy!). It all
adds up to failed attempts to add some conflict when it is not needed.
Just stick with being cute!
Smith should have cut that stuff out and made Dolphin
Tale 2 into a solid, quick
moving, cute 90-minute movie, because you have to be the second coming
of Hitler or Ray Rice not to have your heart warmed by all of that
cuteness.
You know the audience will get all wrapped up in the
aquarium’s conundrum and root for that super cute and
adorable baby dolphin (named Hope!) to warm up to Winter and save the
day.
You know the audience will want to see Sawyer take off on that super
awesome three month trip.
We’re probably even rooting for Sawyer to wake up and realize
his gal pal, Hazel (Cozi “I should have adopted a stage
name” Zuehlsdorff), has a huge crush on him, and we
didn’t need the little love triangle to make it clear (but, I
guess Sawyer needed it to be made clear, we’ll have to talk
about the ending after you see the movie).
Despite the negatives, Dolphin
Tale 2 is so cute you have to be
won over by the movie. The smallest of kids might need to be taught a
little lesson about the circle of life to get through a couple intense
moments, but this is a winner for someone who wants to take the family,
or just go solo and soak in the super adorable cuteness.
Dolphin
Tale 2 is rated PG for some mild
thematic elements.
|