![]() ![]() ![]() Capra does what he can, but he has one of the most aggravating characters in children movie history to play here. But how about his new cast mates? Well, Mr. Even his relationship to the whale is dumbed away. The dynamic between him and his foster parents is just dimmed-down reruns of the same stuff we saw in the first movie. The sequel tries to explore the further complications of Jessie's life, but it only cracks open the doors of opportunity, never exploits them. Furthermore, the character dynamics are diminished. It's not until the third act, the only energized moment in the picture, that he really comes into play and even though, just briefly. He's really just there for more marketing value. Amazing as it sounds, but even though his namesake is the title of the movie, Willy has very little to do with the movie at all. Whereas I could really feel the majesty and the amazing presence of Willy and the other whales in the first film, here it seems more like placid outtakes from a rather cheap documentary, as if the cast cheering at the sight of Willy were doing so at pictures and not the real thing. First of all, the sheer awe and magic of the killer whales. Everything that I loved so much in the first movie has been watered down here. Or why not just "Free Willy 2"? Oh, yeah. But things take a turn for the worse when an oil tanker runs aground in the cove where the whales are living and it's then that I realized "Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home" should have been titled "Free Willy 2: The Escape" because that's more of what it's about. ![]() Jesse's not so interested in camping, but more in meeting up with his old friend (August Schellenberg), his pretty goddaughter (Mart Kate Shellhardt), and of course, lovable Willy and his family. His estranged mother has passed away and so he and his foster parents have to take the unwanted, obnoxious brat from New York (Francis Capra) on their camping trip. The age where girls send his heart pumping and the news that he has a half-brother strikes him like a ton of bricks. Two years later, Willy is still running free in the wild with his kin and the boy is reaching that age. In the last movie, the beloved orca Willy (Keiko) leaped to safety from greedy marine park owners and escaped to the wild while the little boy he befriended, Jesse (Jason James Richter) finally came to peace with his foster parents. It's got the typical monotonous, rushed feeling that I tend to find most sequels have and while it's far from a disaster, it is a letdown from the warmness and nostalgia-stirring charm that I adored so much in the original film. The title just seems more marketable and that's the way the movie feels, too. But the cheer-inducing magic that I loved so much in the original has gone in "Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home" which isn't quite the adventure that the title seems to hint at. Most of the supporting cast from the 1993 cult classic "Free Willy" is back for the sequel, which hit theaters before an excited crowd of youngsters and their parents in 1995. The kit has since returned for sale in 2014 on except it now contains information on freeing orcas and dolphins worldwide instead of news about Keiko. Making him the second oldest orca to have lived in captivity. Soon after rehabilitation, Keiko was freed in the same area in Norway where he was assumed to first be captured and eventually lived to be 29 years old. The kit only cost $24.99, and many people all over the world had donated. In addition, there is information on the "Free Willy Keiko Adoption Kit" which came with a Free Willy poster, stickers, a newsletter on how Keiko was being rehabilitated, and a replica of Jesse's whale necklace. Bell, and Keiko's former trainer Karla Corral. It also included appearances from Jason James Richter, August Schellenberg and the Donners as well as interviews with former Oregon Coast Aquarium president Phyllis A. The VHS release included a infomercial before the movie that talks about receiving donations needed to relocate the star orca, Keiko, back to the ocean. ![]()
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