Dolphin Tale 2 is the sequel to the 2011 Dolphin Tale which was loosely based on the true story of bottlenose dolphin ‘Winter‘ that was rescued from the Florida coast and taken to the Clearwater Marine Park (which is also used in the film) who sadly lost her tail and had to be fitted on a prosthetic. This film centred on the friendship between Winter and 11-year-old Sawyer Nelson (Nathan Gamble).

The film stars Harry Connick Jr., Ashley Judd, Nathan Gamble, Kris Kristofferson, Cozi Zuehlsdorff & Morgan Freeman; all of whom returned from Dolphin Tale. Writer/Director Charles Martin Smith also returns.

 This sequel continues the search for Winter; who is desperately in need of a female companion dolphin. The film also focusses on Sawyer who is torn between taking up a scholarship or continuing to look after Winter. It also focuses on the father/daughter relationship between Clay (Harry Connick Jr.) & Hazel (Cozi Zuehlsdorff) as well as the interactions between Hazel & Sawyer.

What I really appreciated about this film was that it avoids the trap of some other ‘animal-centric’ films in that as much attention is paid to the human story as it is to the animals and the human characters in this film are well developed. Real life footage is also shown at end of the film which is a nice touch. Visually the film lives up to the first instalment and the Clearwater Marine park obviously provides excellent production value for the producers.

Morgan Freeman gives his usual delightful performance as the wise & cumbersome Dr. Cameron McCarthy…….however his presence here does seem like obligatory star casting.

Special Features
-A short featurette about the real life stories behind the film.
This is a nice addition but it would have been good to see more special features offered.

The film is available on DVD & Blu-Ray 14th February, pre-order available now.
3/5 – Standard ‘feel-good’ mainstream fare with an all star cast.