Monday, September 15, 2014

A Dolphin Tale 2 {A Mom's Review}


Friday was my three year old's birthday!  Three years... my how time flies!  Grandma was in town, birthday boy was in a good mood, so we decided to make it a full celebration and see a movie.  Grandma offered to treat us so we looked up what was playing and decided to go see Dolphin Tale 2.

Now if you're not familiar with Dolphin Tale, the first movie follows Winter's story, a juvenile female dolphin found tangled in some crab nets.  As time goes on, Winter regains her health, but looses her tale due to lack of circulation.  Without her tale, she's unable to survive in the wild and her future hangs in the balance.  But through her friendship with Sawyer, Hazel, and the staff at Clearwater Marine Aquarium, Winter receives a prothetic tail and learns to swim on her own again.

In this sequel, Winter's long time companion dies of old age and Winter goes into a deep depression.  Being a social animal, she's lost without Panama's friendship and withdraws, even lashing out again Sawyer, her constant friend.  To make matters worse, regulations require her to find a suitable replacement within weeks.  But can the staff find a dolphin to befriend Winter?  And will the two dolphins connect with each other?

Back to us at the theater...

It's rare to find a movie that we all enjoy.  And rarer still a movie that doesn't chip away at our family values.  So I've been watching this sequel with anticipation since I heard it was being made earlier this year.  Still I had to wonder if there wouldn't be something in the movie.  This is Hollywood after all.  So I waited, and watched, looking for the inevitable innocent plot elements: typical teenage attitude, the oblivious parent, mild language, perhaps a kiss on the cheek between two of the main characters.  And you know what I got?  Nothin'!  Absolutely nothin'.

And what did the kids think?

Two thumbs up across the board.  My eight and six year olds both loved learning about the animals and the fact that Winter found her friend in the end.  They've been talking about the movie all weekend and I'm sure it will bring up more conversation in the future.  And the three year old?  Well, he loved seeing the dolphins swim... oh, and the popcorn.

While Dolphin Tale 2 isn't a nail biting action film, it's one that kept our whole family entertained, without my husband and I cringing at the character's behavior.  It was a reminder that we can all over come if faced with insurmountable odds.  And that growing up doesn't have to mean growing wild.

All in all, I would wholeheartedly recommend this movie.  It's perhaps the best movie we've seen all year!

If you or your family has seen the movie, 
tell us what you think.

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