Mein Freund, der Delfin 2

Just saw this with my movie theatre-working friend. We both enjoyed this true-life sequel about Winter's acting strangely especially after the death of a fellow dolphin early in the film. Since Hazel and Sawyer are a little older and practically young adults, there's a hint of a budding romance between them though the main focus is on Winter and another possible new playmate named Hope. All the cast from the previous one is back and Morgan Freeman's character is allowed to say some witty lines that my friend found funny while I was a little amused at them. Actor Charles Martin Smith is the writer/director and he appears as the guy telling the Harry Connick Jr. character he has 30 days to fix whatever violations he cited. In summary, Dolphin Tale 2 was pretty enjoyable for a true-life sequel.

The Dolphin, a creature that is so full of life and spunk that television cannot help, but make countless forms of entertainment about them. In 2011, one of those stories touched the hearts of millions in the form of Winter, the dolphin with a prosthetic tail. Such a story was inspirational, but mainly a cute animal movie that kids and animal enthusiasts loved. So what else could Hollywood do, but take the momentum and make another movie about the same dolphin. That's right, this review is based on the latest story inspired by true events, Dolphin Tale 2. What wonders are in store for this movie? As always, continue on to find out.

Like any kids' movie, Dolphin Tale start out fun and exciting to get the audience involved with the tale. Yet, like it's predecessor, things take a turn for the worst to establish a point for the near two hours you are about to invest. Dolphin Tale 2 covers the emotional spectrum a little more completely than it's predecessor, and tends to focus on the sadder aspects of life. I warn parents now that this movie has a few themes that might be a little too much younger age groups. The movie is quite depressing at points, with the characters a little more negative than I had expected.. Why such a depressing tale? It is to go with the theme of hope that things will work out with the perseverance and faith the characters have. The directors have decided to teach us valuable life lessons again; all in hopes of inspiring you to push past the dismay life may throw out at you. Despite all the depressing challenges though, parents can reassure themselves and their kids that everything will be better and the inevitable outcome the movie has.

With the ending so predictable, and a lot of depressing scenes in the movie, you may be asking if there is anything worthy about this movie. Truth is that amidst the chaotic, life lesson teaching moments, there are some comedic relief moments that will brighten up the movie. The pelican Rufus has a few funny moments, though has taken a back seat to the human characters in the film. Mavis the turtle, a new addition to the group, has a couple of cute scenes as well, though it's nothing that will have you rolling on the floor in tears. It's really Morgan Freeman who had me laughing the most, delivering his dialogue with that matter of fact approach that brought out the most humor. Like something out of Grumpy old men, Freeman's lines seem part complaining and party insulting, but are actually laced with sarcasm that further brings out the humor, and in truth was the best actor of the bunch for me.

The rest of the human cast did decent job acting, with Nathan Gamble having the most screen time of the bunch. Gamble's portrayal of Sawyer is balanced, but needs some fine- tuning at points where he seems almost bored of acting. Some of his emotionally heavy scenes lack the drive I wanted to see, and sometimes came out more whiney than sad. Harry Connick Jr. reprises his role as the doctor, and I think handled the maturing role well of his character balancing science with parenting. Connick didn't overact too much during the part, though seeing the movie magic, serious; army drill sergeant command was hard not to laugh at points. The lovely Ashley Judd brings her talents back to the screen again, somehow playing the balanced roles as she always does. I loved her smile, her energy, and her logical sense in the film where everything felt so natural as you watched perform. Then there was Cozi Zuehlsdorff reprising her role as Hazel. In this movie Hazel was rather annoying for me, her character a little too needy, overbearing, and at times weak that had me rolling my eyes. I don't know if it was the direction or the acting, but her lines came out a hybrid of what seemed happy and desperate. Then we she tried to take a serious, more mature role, she came out more like a stuck up brat. Hazel's character overall just didn't do it for me, but did help drive the story at parts and provide a little zest to the rest of the cast.

However, the cast members most of you are probably interested in are the dolphins Winter and Hope. Well Winter, like Sawyer, gets massive amounts of screen time, though in this installment her energy is a lot lower. Fans will get a number of scenes of the dolphin sulking under the board, with close ups of her eyes and missing tail. She is still just as cute as you remember her, but she lacks that playful edge many of us enjoyed. As for Hope, the cute little dolphin has the energy Winter is missing and her small size magnifies the joy she brings. However, she is only present near the last thirty minutes of the movie, and doesn't have as much involvement with the cast as you might "hope" for. Her part felt rushed to me, and the big challenge they had to face was solved in a matter of minutes. The accomplishment surely makes her involvement in the movie worth it, but I was expecting more with the build-up from the trailers.

Overall Dolphin Tale 2 is a cute movie and does give off good vibes as the ending draws near. However, there are plenty of kid's movies on the market to fill your time until it comes to home release. My recommendation is to skip this film for now and wait on the next Disney movie that might have a more engaging tale:

My scores are:

Drama Family: 7.5 Movie Overall: 6.0

"You can't just throw two dolphins in the water together."

And that's basically the only conflict driving the plot for this sequel. I was a huge fan of Charles Martin Smith's first film starring Winter, the dolphin with the prosthetic tail, but there isn't anything appealing about this sequel which barely has a plot. I felt that there was never really much at stake here and many of the emotional moments felt forced, unlike in the first film where there was a lot at stake. There were a lot of fillings and subplots that never did anything to help build the pacing, and despite remaining family friendly, most children will probably be bored by this sequel. I never got engaged with it and perhaps much of that had to do with the weak script and the lack of conflict. The characters which I really liked the first time around didn't do anything for me in this sequel and I didn't feel that same connection they had with Winter this time around. Dolphin Tale 2 has all the right ingredients for a direct to DVD movie, but somehow it has been released in the big screen and received some positive reviews from the critics (only 4% lower than Interstellar according to Rottentomatoes). It astonishes me considering this film is formulaic and predictable with very little going for it. A week from now everyone will forget about it.

The true star of the franchise is Winter, but in this sequel we really don't get to see the dolphin all that much. There really isn't much at stake either, and we know how everything is going to play out. The cast is back again, which means we get some cameos from Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, and Kris Kristofferson, but they aren't given any substantial role this time around. The film centers once again on the child actors, Nathan Gamble and Cozi Zuehlsdorff, who deliver solid performances but don't add much to the story. From the first scene you can tell that the producers were simply trying to cash in after the success of the first film because there is not much going for it story wise. The true story is inspirational and the original film has touched many people's lives, but there wasn't any need for a sequel.

Though I don't remember the first time I got a hug nor do I recall the first time I ate ice cream, I do recall the first pet I head. It was a white fluffy cat named Cepe. I had to have been three or four when that animal first sat on my lap. Coincidentally, this was about the time when my family and I moved from Long Beach, CA to Murrieta, CA. I have to stop there as just having the animal is all I remember. He ran away at some point, but the memory of the animal is still fresh along with the other pet's I've had because of the connection I've made.

A lot of people think there's a telekinetic relationship between animals and the people that they love. I'm on that same wavelength as I believe that my two dogs have an understanding of my emotions, even though they don't have those same spirits. So I can understand why animal volunteers and even scientists claim that they have something with animals that people don't understand. It's something about our connection to other species that we as mankind can apply to our prejudices. This connection is examined with sea life in Dolphin Tale 2.

The original movie was about the tail-less dolphin named Winter who was rescued and given a prosthetic fin that gave back it's ability to swim.

Now the boy that rescued her, Sawyer (played by Nathan Gamble) is now in high school and is studying to be a marine biologist while continuing to volunteer at the marine hospital that's become a successful aquarium. Dr. Clay Haskett (played by Harry Connick, Jr.), his daughter Hazel (played by Cozi Zuehlsdorff) and the rest of the staff have been juggling around keeping a clean attraction while caring for the sea turtles, fish, and it's star, Winter.

Sawyer is offered a scholarship for a semester at sea program that could be great for him, but he's contemplating whether he can spend months away from the dolphin he loves. At the same time, another dolphin named Panama has passed away. This causes Winter to seemed distressed and even puts Sawyer in danger. Sawyer and Hazel are looking at a new dolphin named Mandy to be paired with Winter, but that fails when the animal heals and needs to be released. Dr. Clay Haskett does everything he can to hold off the government from transferring Winter to another park as they try and find another dolphin to be a suitable companion.

Without sounding like a party pooper, I'll say that the first Dolphin Tale was not a good movie to begin with. I found the material schmaltzy but at least harmless enough to recommended for kids who haven't seen the "boy and his animal" story. Dolphin Tale 2 is more or less the same. It is harmless and will probably eat up marine animal lovers and families looking for something educational and/or inspirational. But for a twenty-something guy like me, it's just overbearing.

Without critiquing the subject matter, my problem with the movie is that it's too long for it's own good. The first forty five minutes are spent with Winter, until the focus is suddenly shifted on Hazel and her healing a sea turtle. Once the turtle is back in the ocean, it's like the movie realized that there's a fin-less dolphin here and goes back to that. The focus is all over the place and much of the swimming shots of the animals go on for so long, you'd think that Sea World directed this thing.

I'll give this five prosthetic fins out of ten. Dolphin Tale 2 is only for the audience of this first movie. I doubt that Game of Throne fans or Marvel Superhero geeks are gonna get anything out of this, but it's harmless enough that I still say is a passable option for families searching for something more wholesome. If your that kind of person, then take this dive with the dolphins.

Enjoyable sequel that finds Winter the dolphin struggling with the death of her friend Panama. Meanwhile, Sawyer (Nathan Gamble) gets an offer to attend a special marine research program for three months but isn't sure he is ready to go. Like the first movie it's based on real events and the dolphins Winter and Hope appear here as themselves. The cast from the last one also returns, with reduced roles for Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, and Kris Kristofferson. But that's okay because the two kids (now young teens) and the dolphins are the stars. There's a budding romantic subplot with Sawyer and Hazel that is six kinds of cute. Also fun is the comic relief pelican that has a subplot involving a turtle. It's a nice, positive family movie with a likable cast and good message.