Dolphin
Tale
is not really a movie that needed a sequel, but here we are. It’s summer,
parents need a family-friendly movie to take their kids to now that school is
back in session, everyone loves dolphins. No real other explanation for Dolphin Tale 2 exists. Not really.
Everyone from the 2011 original film (which told the
real-life story of the dolphin Winter, whose use of a prosthetic tail has made
her an inspiration to disabled children and wounded veterans alike) is back for
Dolphin Tale 2, but that reunited
casting doesn’t make the film any less vanilla. The gist is this: Years after
Winter was rescued, she’s beloved by practically everyone who visits her new
home, the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. The owner of the aquarium, Dr. Clay
Haskett (Harry Connick Jr.); his daughter Hazel (Cozi Zuehlsdorff); and the boy
that found Winter when she was injured, Sawyer Nelson (Nathan Gamble), are the
most constant people in Winter’s life, but when her female dolphin companion
dies, they know they’re in trouble. It’s against the law for female dolphins to
be unpaired in captivity, and if Dr. Clay doesn’t find another female dolphin
soon, Winter could be removed from the aquarium.
This is devastating news, of course, not only for Sawyer
(who is essentially Winter’s best human friend), Hazel and Dr. Clay, but also
for the aquarium’s investors, who have been seeing dollar dollar bills, y’all, in
revenue since Winter became famous. So there are competing motivations at play
here regarding Winter’s future, and at the same time, Sawyer has been invited
to a prestigious semester-at-sea program that could take him away from Winter …
and Hazel, his sort-of-kind-of crush.
You know how this ends, right? Of course you know how this
ends. So the point of the film isn’t the foregone conclusion, but the journey, which
is … bland. In light of the documentary Blackfish,
it feels like Dolphin Tale 2 has a
lot of language about how dolphins are wild animals, but Sawyer and Winter seem
to have a great time doing underwater spins and twirls together; you’ll have a
variety of these inspirational swimming montages. Every so often the aquarium
will save another animal, like a turtle, that will do absurd things for
children to laugh at. And Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman are still lurking
around, providing benevolent wisdom while collecting their paychecks.
For very young children,
Dolphin Tale 2 will be fine; it has
a straightforward narrative that’s easy to follow, and the dolphins are cute,
and Florida looks very pretty. It’s an inoffensive-enough way to spend nearly
two hours, and if you do, stay for the credits. The real-life footage of Winter
and the aquarium employees that plays during the credits sequence is more
inspirational and compelling than practically any of the other stuff that comes
before it.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Guttenbergs
