Sadly Over-hyped

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Good movie but grossly overrated

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

I have never seen the actual original of this movie when it came out back in 2011 so when I saw this film on sale yesterday I decided to buy it and see the sequel to this 2011 film based on real events. Child Star Nathan Gamble(who played Owen Wilson's little son in that sad tearjearker flick Marley & Me) is all grown up now sporting darker hair and he plays Sawyer a young boy who befriends a dolphin named Winter who lost her fins by a crab trap. Now Winter is lonely and depressed ever since her mom passed away and so the crew members over the aquarium has to find a mate for Winter(a friend for Winter since Winter is a girl btw) in order for winter to not be depressed and lonely anymore. They do rescue another dolphin named Mandy,but since Mandy is fine the crew has to go on the lookout for a new dolphin. Finally they do find a dolphin named Hope who at first is scared of Winter and doesn't really get along with Winter. But can the two ever become mates so that Winter can stay at the aquarium?This film stars singer turned actor Harry Conrick Jr,Morgan Freeman from The Dark Knight,Ashley Judd from Someone Like You,and a couple of newcomers thrown into the mix as well. The first 20 minutes into this film I was emotional I dunno why but I actually sobbed in a few places. This film has to be very underrated as no one ever talks about it. The story is very good,the acting is great and the director did a good job with this film.Overall check it out. I will try and track down the original Dolphin Tale film and review that too in the future.I'd say go and see it if you love dolphins. If you love Flipper and Free Willy then you are going to enjoy this film.7/10

This has to be the most pointless sequel I've ever seen. Ever. How can you make a sequel to a movie that's based on a true story? The best answer is "you can't". and then everyone can continue on with their lives. But no, here's Dolphin Tale 2, right off the factory rack, processed and ready for distribution. And boy, does it suck. The first Dolphin Tale was not a great movie, but I liked it because it had a solid story that was mildly inspirational, likable characters with space to progress throughout the film, and stakes that felt fairly high. All things the second movie lacks. For one, there is no story to pursue. In the first film it was "get this dolphin a prosthetic tail or else it will die". It this film it's "get this dolphin a friend soon or else some other aquarium might take it away." And then once they get another dolphin: "make them like each other or else... well, nothing really." There are no real stakes involved, and the threat of having the dolphin taken away lacks the urgency it needed to work. The other major problem is the characters. Sawyer, the main character in both movies (despite the fact the films are "based on a true story", all the human characters are fictional, I wonder how that works), was a shy boy at the beginning of the first movie where he grew to be more confident by joining the community at the aquarium and helping to save the dolphin's life. That was his character arc in the first film and it worked. In Dolphin Tale 2 his character has nowhere to go, besides a weak sub-plot involving him getting a scholarship to go to biology summer camp or something. None of the other character have any arcs either. Morgan Freeman seems to have reached an all time low in his career. The other films he was in this year were "Lucy" and "Transcendence". Has Ashley Judd ever gotten tired of being typecast as "the mom" for the last twenty years? There is the most obvious attempt at comic relief with the annoying pelican, but it's not funny, it's dumb. With the amount of self-congratulatory shoulder patting going on, plus a cameo by Bethany Hamilton, I was getting strong Christian Film Industry vibes. I half expected Kevin Sorbo to pop up. The film is testament on what not to do. Don't make a sequel to a "true story" (or any story, for that matter) unless there is somewhere to go with it. This is cinema, not television, and this lazy, sloppy storytelling just won't cut it.Hopefully Dolphin Tale 2 will sink into the depths of obscurity, where it belongs.

Enjoyable sequel that finds Winter the dolphin struggling with the death of her friend Panama. Meanwhile, Sawyer (Nathan Gamble) gets an offer to attend a special marine research program for three months but isn't sure he is ready to go. Like the first movie it's based on real events and the dolphins Winter and Hope appear here as themselves. The cast from the last one also returns, with reduced roles for Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, and Kris Kristofferson. But that's okay because the two kids (now young teens) and the dolphins are the stars. There's a budding romantic subplot with Sawyer and Hazel that is six kinds of cute. Also fun is the comic relief pelican that has a subplot involving a turtle. It's a nice, positive family movie with a likable cast and good message.

Its a story of hope and new beginnings. The first film tackles about life goes on even in hardest times and friends came to your life unexpectedly. This sequel manage to give a new arc of the story and focus on choices and friendship.Sawyer's story tells us that our life never stop in one side of it. Life goes on and we should try to explore it. There is a life other than in the box that were living. Don't be afraid to try new things because it will help us to grow to be a better person....and who doesn't inspired to swim with the dolphins and rescue animals after watching it? Because it inspired me a lot that we are all created equal and we need to show love to one another even we look different to each other.