Free Willy

First of all, I want to say some of my thoughts about IMDb ratings. If you look at IMDb top 250 you can hardly find any family movie . In fact, there are only three family movie (I mean live action movies not animated flicks) in this chart. They are Princess Bride on the 99 position (haven't seen yet), A Christmas Story on 142 (a movie nobody heard of besides English speaking countries) and the E.T. on the 244 (forever classic - no point denying that). And I bet you would be unable to find another one even in top 500. On the other hand you can find in this list, for example, more than eighty thrillers or more than thirty 30 war movies. Does that result means that family movies can't be good. Obviously it is not. For me the point is that many of people as well as lots of critics don't appreciate movies sweet movies without profanity, drugs, sex and violence. Cheesy movie for kids only that's not a fair grade. Well it's only my opinion but for me it's very sad when such a beautiful movie become so undeservedly underrated. Now, more directly to our movie. I watched Free Willy no less than four or five times and found it one of the best family and animal movie ever made. The bonds of friendship between man and animal are shown incredibility well here. From this point Free Willy remembered me another beautiful animal movie The Black Stallion. The unlikely friendship between twelve years old Jesse and giant whale as the main element of the story is very sweet and touching. Overall plot is well constructed (and there's no point to complain its unreality) with decent development of the main characters. Young and definitely talented Jason Jammes Richter created terrific performance of a young lonely problem boy Jesse. Also very good in the movie were August Schellenberg (as Randolph) and Michael Madsen (as Glen). As I always mentioned cinematography is pretty good, including first-rate animal action (Keiko is so cute there). The beautiful movie soundtrack written by Basil Poleuydouris a bit resembled for me terrific Carmine Coppola's score for The Black Stallion. And finally, that's maybe the most important Free Willy is a very humanistic movie, a movie that what was made with love and care about nature. Thanks to Simon Wincer for this great masterpiece. We need more movies like this, not a laughable rubbish that Hollywood studios now provide for family entertainment. I rated Free Willy 10 out of 10 as an excellent and beautiful family friendly movie. Check out also its two sequels. They are also pretty good.

Thanks for reading and sorry for my bad English.

Free Willy is one that passed me by as a young teenager on its initial release, but I recently saw it with my two young daughters who both took a lot from it.

The visual storytelling is strong throughout as the filmmakers almost seamlessly blend the captive Keiko, animatronics and open water cinematography in a plausible way to tell the story of the titular orca. His scenes of interaction with human characters are very well done and all lead to a famous and cinematic conclusion that was largely spoiled by the movie posters and trailers of the time. Great use is made of the different locations to make it all seem like it's all happening in Oregon.

There is no denying the movie has a simple yet powerful message about captive animals and their exploitation for financial gain. If it went some way to deter children from visiting zoos, circuses and aquariums, that has to be a positive. That being said I find the use of a captive animal in a sentimental story about a captive animal longing for freedom (for commercial gain) quite ironic. Saying that it was a movie that raised awareness about the plight of captive orcas and resulted in people taking action, regardless of its financial motives.

Where it falters slightly is in the clichéd characters, contrived aspects of the plot and exploitative emotional moments. It is however aimed at families with children so there is only so harsh I can be, particularly when my own children enjoyed it.

Free Willy is the quintessential 90s family film along the lines of Home Alone - innocent, schmaltzy and full of cloying sentimentality. It contains everything you've seen before and has passed into cliché - misunderstood kid who just wants to prove himself, heartfelt friendship with a precious animal, plot to thwart secret bad guys and so on - but it does so with such determined idealism that you can't help but feel a sheer, overwhelming joy. Free Willy is the family movie to end all family movies, a condensation of so many feelgood tropes that it collapses under its own gravity to form a singularity of Hollywood magic.

While the plot is quite hackneyed, it's fine that we have movie like this. The news is out on the treatment of Orcas by places like Sea World. These magnificent creatures are kept in tight quarters and made to perform at shows. Willy is one of those whales, and a young boy, who has had a checkered past, and his friend decide it is time to put him back in the open sea. The movie has to do with the logistics of getting this done. As is usually the case, there are some bad people determined to stop this. While it's lightweight and pretty hard to believe, it's a nice movie with a good heart. I'm happy that my children enjoyed this and developed a good attitude about the treatment of animals.

Oh, this one is underrated here. The story of Jason James Richter's character trying to escape from a life of crime and missing prospects is way beyond the average. The growing affection for Willy is not even stereotyped or clichéd. It's a genuine bond that focuses on two outcast characters who slowly but surely come to experience true friendship and the value of trust. Jason's performance really appealed to me when I saw this movie as a kid. It is a sincere depiction of friendship, of a way out, of fighting for your values against all odds and of never giving up. Right, I'm grown up now, but this is one of the movies of my childhood I'd like to watch again, and I'm sure I'd enjoy it almost as much as back then. Jason James had very few acting appearances, but the Free Willy series assured him his place in movie history. His entire performance in here is sincere and straight, he doesn't laugh nor smile if it wasn't just natural in the specific sequences. His facial expressions and body language fit into the total frame as well. The story has some profoundly human themes to it. I can't help it, I think this one is both entertaining and deep, dealing with emotions and prospects of life, with integrity and courage in the face of danger.