sesht
I remember watching the first one, and remember being surprised at the bad reviews it got. I know this one will not win hardcore critics' hearts either, and might even empathize with them, but yet, for some, this is a mainstream movie that needs to be watched at the local multiplex, preferably with family.For those who have not seen the 1st one, what I'm about to cover might constitute spoiler territory for that one. For the rest, it should be OK. Since the struggle in making Winter swim has been dispensed with in the first movie, this movie handles the operations of the CWA, which rescues, rehabilitates and releases animals needing its care, in that order. It is a nice subject to dwell on, further enhanced by giving the supporting characters quite a bit of room to breath, while keeping a few others cardboard-like (notice the disservice done to the love lives of all the leads, and the plastic caricatures we are presented of characters inhabited by Harry Connick Jr., Ashley Judd and Kris Kristofferson - I can understand them wanting to be a part of this project, and I can understand the makers wanting the PG rating, but you can push your envelope just a tad in the interest of keeping things down to earth, no pun intended, since this is mostly aquatic). Which is not to say I'm nitpicking, since the antics of Mavis, Mandy, Rufus, Hope and Winter keep everyone entertained almost throughout that the afterthoughts that are the rest just remain that - afterthoughts. However, to me, that is the difference between a movie that just about does its job, and one that treads into the realm of TV movie territory, esp. one that suits Lifetime channel the best, or in this case, even Disney. A missed opportunity of sorts. There are some life lessons that are spread throughout, and that is where I think watching the movie with younger members of the family might just be the way to go, since there could be so many inspiring conversations one could have, about healing, hope, faith, willpower, success and the like, all of which this movie serves to highlight not just in anecdotal lip-service form.The number of times the various leads refer to the dolphins as wild animals, though appropriate, and kinda guidance-providing, belies the fact of how their characters treated the same animals with more empathy during the first outing. It's almost as if someone told them to be more politically correct, and they ended up toeing the line. One thing I did not notice in the first outing was that this one has been competently helmed by Charles Martin Smith, the 4th 'Untouchable', him of the infamy 'what happened to that dude who was in 'The Untouchables' while everyone else got famous'. I kinda dug the way he chose to let the story do the talking, and has shot this like he shot its predecessor, in a laid-back, unhurried fashion, that lets every frame linger on just that much longer, favoring long takes and conversations. Which is why his decisions wrt certain key supporting characters seem surprising in retrospect.The performances of the teen leads are muted, but serviceable. The veterans are picking up paychecks, but they're capable of so much more. As a friend of mine causally remarked, Ashley Judd was better served in 'Divergent' than by being in this one. Not their fault though - I'm happy they agreed to reprise their roles instead of asking stand-ins to do so.For some strange reason, they've not shot this on 3D, and have elected to release in plan 2D. While I am NOT a fan of wearing glasses throughout the running length of a movie, I thought that 3D enhanced the viewing pleasure of the first one, and this unexplained preference of 1 format over the other, while the surcharge can get some footfalls, escapes me still.All in all, worth that trek to the cinema.
RforFilm
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.
