kitethewolf

In my opinion, none of the sequels can stand up to the first, though this one is pretty good. I find the acting to be good, for the most part. Elvis is portrayed perfectly as the delightfully annoying pest of a little brother, though his character development is shown well as the movie progresses. It felt nice to watch Elvis and Jesse grow closer until the ending, where it seemed as though they had grown up together and shared a bond. Nadine is a nice addition to the cast of characters, providing Jesse with a love interest. It was nice to watch their bond develop and grow as the movie went on as well. The only complaint I have about the acting is the scene at the dock where Jesse is first reunited with Willy (aside from having seen him from a distance on Randolph's boat). I felt as though there could have been much more emotion shown from Jesse. He was obviously happy to see Willy again, but I expected more excitement and enthusiasm. The storyline is believable and brings attention to the very real problem of oil spills. Some consider it a bit preachy, but I'm glad this movie spreads awareness about the damage oil spills do to the environment instead of just the tourism industry. The robots in this movie were phenomenal, though in the scenes where Jesse introduces Nadine to Willy, and the ending after Willy saves Jesse from the fire, some of the paint on the chin spots is visibly missing (half of one of the spots is gone) and in some scenes it appears as though the spots in Willy's right eye-patch aren't there at all. Minor mistakes compared to how real and believable the robots are, though. Overall, a good movie with a good message to spread. Recommended.

This movie practically -is- my childhood. I watched it every single day, wore out two VHS tapes, and now have the DVD. I think the acting is great, especially Jason James Richter's performance as Jesse. He did a fantastic job at displaying all of the emotions Jesse felt throughout the movie, especially in the ending. I always cry at the end of this movie and I honestly believe that if it weren't for Richter's acting, I might not be as effected by this movie. He does a magnificent job at portraying the character development and changes in Jesse. The storyline itself is pretty believable, until the jump at the ending, but its obvious that it isn't meant to be realistic, but inspiring. The bond between Jesse and Willy feels very powerful in this movie, more so than in the second and third, in my opinion. When watching, I can't help but feel like there's a genuine connection between Richter and Keiko. Overall, a very heartwarming, inspiring story about what friendship can accomplish, and that its always best to do what's right, even if its painful (Jesse didn't want to say goodbye for Willy, but "had to look out for him and do what's best for him"). One of the best movies about the bond between a child and an animal.

I wasn't too sure about whether or not I'd like this movie, but since I've been a Free Willy/Steve Irwin fan my entire life, I gave it a shot. Overall, it was decent. The acting, in my opinion, was good. I felt that Bindi did a fantastic job. The storyline, though very similar to the first and second Free Willy movies, was decent, though more effort could have been made to make the storyline a little more original. However, its still a heartwarming story. If this movie had come out when I was a little kid, I would have watched it often. I did have some problems with this movie, though. For one, they named the whale Willy, even though it had nothing to do with the original whale. That bothered me simply because this whale wasn't the Willy I grew up loving in the other movies. I think they should have at least made this whale be Willy's son Max, who was born in the end of the third movie. It would have at least given this whale a connection to the real Willy. For two, the robot-whale didn't look very realistic at all. It seemed as though it was unable to close its mouth completely and in the scenes leading up to "Willy"'s release, its mouth was hanging open slightly, which...erm, made the whale look kinda...deceased. Three, I didn't feel the connection between Kirra and "Willy" like I did between Jesse and Willy. Kirra obviously cared about "Willy" and the whale seemed to like her, but I didn't personally feel like the connection was very strong. I'm a very emotional person, and I didn't even tear up when "Willy" was released and Kirra had to say goodbye (I cry at the end of Free Willy every time, though). Four, a minor complaint, but I wasn't completely satisfied with the lack of footage of real orcas used in this film. This film relied heavily on computer generated images and the robot, even though the back of the case shows Kirra riding a clearly real orca. I had hoped and expected to see at least -some- footage of "Willy" using a real whale, judging from the pictures on the back of the case. In conclusion, it could have used some improvements, but it isn't a terrible movie. Younger kids would probably enjoy it more than teenagers and adults. My personal recommendation is to watch the first Free Willy film if you're going to choose between the four. I enjoy kids movies, but I usually shut this movie off about halfway through.