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.
