Movie Review: Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home
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What Parents Should Know
Without the freshness of the initial
Free
Willy
, this one is a little like watching the previous film's
characters (various species) swimming laps. This sequel is
strictly for young fans of the original who can't get enough of
Willy. Kids above 12 may find this
Willy a little too obvious and sugary.
Children put themselves at risk again in this sequel, and families may want to discuss what their own children would do in certain situations. How much risk is too much? How should they procede?
Common Sense Media Review
How many times can one whale be trapped and rescued? A
Free Willy cast reunion takes place just offshore,
with the marine mammals once again in peril and an extended
human family still learning to get along.
You'd think there wouldn't be much to add to the Free Willy saga after Willy was freed, and you'd be right (unless you count the real-life movement to release Keiko, the captive orca used in these movies). Free Willy 2 treads some pretty familiar waters; it's not unlike a "Flipper" episode on steroids, especially in the action-filled climax, when whales and boys confront an ocean that's turned into sheets of flame.
But the first movie wasn't so much about stunts as the surprisingly touching relationship between Jesse and the troubled sea creature (Flipper never had such a bad attitude). There's an attempted subsitute here in the emotional subplot of Jesse's jealousy, rivalry and reconciliation with Elvis, his obnoxious sibling. Much of their dramatics takes place in the midst of an environmental inferno. The producers correctly intuited that this brotherly spat alone would leave much of the audience cold.
For a truly charming movie sequel with a fresh angle on save the whales, check out Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
Common Sense Media is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information to help parents make media and entertainment choices for their families.
