REVIEW: Dolphin Tale 2

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

I’m not sure audiences were clamoring for a sequel to Dolphin Tale, the 2011 movie about a critically injured dolphin who relearned to swim with the help of a prosthetic tail, but here we are. And why not? The first flick was a decent family drama with a solid cast, and it did surprisingly well at the box office. Sequels have been greenlit under far weirder conditions.

The actors must’ve had fun, because everyone is back for more: Morgan Freeman, Harry Connick Jr., Ashley Judd and Kris Kristofferson, as well as kid performers Nathan Gamble and Cozi Zuehlsdorff, who have since entered that awkward, gangly stage of adolescence. Something tells me they’re going to hate watching this movie in a few years.

Returning director Charles Martin Smith even gives himself a heavier workload this time around. He takes on screenwriting duties and plays a small role as a bothersome inspector. The result is a film that isn’t quite as strong as the first one, but still fun to watch thanks to the adult cast’s chemistry and all the adorable animals.

Dolphin Tale 2 picks up a couple of years after the original to find that the once-shy Sawyer (Gamble) is now an outgoing, science-loving volunteer at the Clearwater Marine Hospital. His bond with Winter is still strong, and his grades have improved so much that his mom (Judd) is fielding inquiries from a prestigious university.

But things take a turn for the uncertain after Panama, the facility’s oldest dolphin, dies. Winter doesn’t take her loss well, acting aggressively toward her handlers and refusing to swim with her prosthetic tail, which could potentially damage her spine. Dr. Cameron McCarthy (Freeman), the physician who designed Winter’s tail, monitors her constantly, but the outlook is grim unless the facility can pair her with a new female dolphin.

Investors are applying pressure on owner Dr. Clay Haskett (Connick) to match Winter with a dolphin that Sawyer and Haskett’s daughter (Zuehlsdorff) helped rescue recently. But she’s rapidly healing, so Haskett believes he has a moral obligation to release her back into the ocean.

It’s against regulations to keep Winter in a tank by herself, so an official (Smith) informs Haskett he has to find a new friend for the dolphin soon or she’ll be transferred to an aquatic park in Texas. Will the gang find a solution? Since the film's advertising prominently features a baby dolphin named Hope, it’s not too hard to figure out the answer.

If Dolphin Tail 2 was a bit shorter, I’d recommend it as a terrific option for kids of all ages. The moving, beautifully shot animal sequences are worth seeing on the big screen, and the children in my screening were rapt during them.

But 107 minutes is tough on little ones’ attention spans. Any time the narrative shifted to amped up human drama, most of it unnecessary, younger viewers checked out. I’m sure Smith wanted to provide meaty scenes for the returning actors, who perform them admirably (Connick especially), but the subplots bloat what should be a straightforward tale about the animals.

Gamble and Zuehlsdorff don’t benefit from the added drama either. They’re saddled with typical subplots about the pains of growing up, but neither of them are strong enough actors to handle the material. They’re fine when the story focuses on them hanging out with Winter or an injured sea turtle, but not when they’re sharing screen time with the adult cast.

Another issue I have with Dolphin Tale 2 is something that bugged me in the first one: the franchise insists on creating a fictionalized narrative when real-world events are far more interesting. Just like its predecessor, the film closes with footage of the animals and people who “inspired” the story, which is far more intriguing than the fake movie the audience just watched.

I’d much rather see a documentary on the same subject matter. But, then again, I’m not exactly the flick’s target demo. Still, even if I’m not sure another visit to Winter’s world was narratively essential, at least Dolphin Tale 2 makes it a mostly enjoyable trip.

Dolphin Tale 2 is rated PG for some mild thematic elements.

Grade: B-