Blu-ray Review Dolphin Tale 2 Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

Dolphin Tale 2 Blu-ray Review

Dolphin Tale 2 reassembles all of the major cast as well as the director of the inspirational 2011 tale of Winter, a rescued Dolphin fitted with a prosthetic tail who became an inspiration to humans with disabilities. As with its predecessor, the filmmakers of Dolphin Tale 2 have adapted subsequent true life events (taking generous amounts of dramatic liberties) into an uplifting family friendly film.

Studio: Warner Brothers

Distributed By: N/A

Video Resolution and Encode: 1080P/AVC

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1

Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HDMA, Spanish 5.1 DD, French 5.1 DD, Other

Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French, Portuguese

Rating: PG

Run Time: 1 Hr. 47 Min.

Package Includes: Blu-ray, DVD, UltraViolet

Standard sized Blu-ray case with hubs on both sides to accommodate two discs with cardboard slipcover

Disc Type: BD50 (dual layer), DVD-9 (dual layer)

Region: A, 1

Release Date: 12/09/2014

MSRP: $35.99

The Production Rating: 3/5

Dolphin Tale 2Directed By: Charles Martin SmithStarring: Harry Connick, Jr., Ashley Judd, Nathan Gamble, Kris Kristofferson, Cozi Zuehlsdorff, and Morgan FreemanDolphin Tale 2 picks up three years after the first film in the series. Rescued Dolphin Winter has been happily and healthily living as an inspirational attraction at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Florida thanks to a prosthetic fin developed by Dr. Cameron McCarthy (Freeman). When her companion dolphin Panama dies, Winter begins showing signs of depression and unruliness, much to the distress of her rescuers including teens Sawyer Nelson (Gamble) and Hazel Haskett (Zuehlsdorff). Winter's best bet for recovery appears to be a recently rescued Dolphin named Mandy, but when Mandy recovers to the point of being capable of surviving on her own, the need to provide a suitable companion for Winter runs counter to the Aquarium's stated mission to "Rescue, Rehab, and Release" marine animals. Hazel's father, Dr. Clay Haskett (Connick), is forced to make a tough decision that could result in Winter being moved to a different aquarium.While Dolphin Tale 2 does not significantly improve on its predecessor, it does manage to assemble all of the major characters from the first film and give them something to do that is more than just a rehash. Nobody is required to re-learn lessons already learned in the first film, and the youthful protagonists have matured into thoughtful and capable teens transitioning into the adult world. While the film will likely appeal to fans of its predecessor, it shares its fondness for simplistic and overly telegraphed plot contrivances. This will not likely not bother elementary aged kids and aquatic animal lovers, but more sophisticated moviegoers will likely be bored by its lack of depth. The film's 107 minute running time is padded with scenes of redundant exposition. There is one scene of a board meeting for the aquarium that is about as awkwardly written and woodenly performed as I have seen in a modern major studio film-making. It consists of nothing but characters spouting pieces of information that even the most casual of viewers could easily have discerned in other scenes.The run time is also padded by the filmmakers' desire to bring back every major cast member from the first film whether or not they are required for the plot. There is nothing really wrong with the performances of Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd, but their characters feel like vestigial appendages to the film.While one of the highlights of the first film was its underwater 3D cinematography, this 2D sequel takes a different but equally effective approach, exploiting the advantages of lightweight Sony 4k digital cinema cameras to achieve some spectacular underwater footage with ultra sharp images, effective compositions, and more fluid (pun intended) camera movements.

A Dolphin Tale 2 Playlist

Video Rating: 5/5 3D Rating: NA

The digital cinematography is rendered in an extremely sharp 1080p AVC encoded Blu-ray rendering that improves noticeably on the transfer quality of the 2D Blu-ray of the first film in the series. Other than some specific shots intended to represent footage captured on consumer grade video equipment, the presentation is reference quality.

Audio Rating: 4/5

The film's soundtrack is rendered via a lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 track that serves it well, but disappoints only in that the mix is not always as imaginative as the underwater cinematography. Fidelity is excellent with a smooth blend of dialog, music, and effects. Alternate language tracks are presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 in French, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Special Features Rating: 2.5/5

When the disc is first played, the viewer s greeted with the following skippable promos:

• Winter The Dolphin That Can Blu-ray trailer
• Hillsong: Let Hope Rise Theatrical Trailer
• Florida Tourism Promo

Proper extras accessible from the disc's special features menu consist of the following collection of brief featurettes presented in high definition video with Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soud:Dolphin Tale 2: Underwater Magic (3:03) is a brief overview of the “underwater ballet” sequences between Nathan Gamble, Cozi Zuehlsdorff, and Winter the dolphin. Much discussion revolves around how the underwater cinematography was accomplished with collaboration between the filmmakers and marine wildlife photographer Bob Talbot. On-camera comments are provided by Cozi Zuehlsdorff (“Hazel”), Writer/Director Charles Martin Smith, Nathan Gamble (“Sawyer”), Producer Broderick Johnson, Director of Photography Daryn Okada, Producer Richard Ingber, and Underwater Cinematographer Bob Talbot.Look Who’s Running the Show (3:20) Looks at how the young stars and the characters they play have matured over the three years since the first film. On camera comments come from Smith, Gamble, Producer Andrew A. Kosove, Johnson, Zuehlsdorff, Ashley Judd (“Lorraine”), and Harry Connick Jr. (“Clay”). Bethany Hamilton Meets Winter (3:18) discusses the presence of Champion surfer Bethany Hamilton in a couple of sequences in the film. On camera comments come from Hamilton, Smith, Ingber, Johnson, Zuehlsdorff, and Connick.Dolphin Tale 2: The Mission (3:34) looks at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium facility, its mission to “Rescue, Rehab, and Release” marine animals, and how that was incorporated into the second film even more directly than in its predecessor. On-camera comments come from Smith, Johnson, Ingber, Connick, Clearwater Aquarium CEO and Executive Producer David Yates, Morgan Freeman (“Dr. Cameron McCarthy”), Zuehlsdorff, Kosove, and Judd.Dolphin Tale 2: The Story (4:01) talks about the real life events that inspired the second film. On camera comments come from Smith, Kosove, Connick, Judd, Zuehlsdorff, Yates, Ingber, Johnson, Gamble, and Freeman.Cozi Zuehlsdoorff “Brave Souls” (4:25) offers comments from Zuehlsdorff about writing and recording the song, in-studio performance footage, and clips from the movie.Gavin Degraw “You Got Me” Music Video (3:53) is a music video mixing footage of Degraw performing in a recording studio with clips from the movie.Blooper Reel (7:22) is a mix of flubbed lines, animal antics, prop mis-cues, and goofing around by the cast caught on camera. It ends with a clip from the last day of shooting with Harry Connick, Jr. and Charles Martin Smith expressing thanks and appreciation to the cast and crew.SD DVDThis Blu-ray combo pack also includes an SD DVD with the film presented in 16:9 enhanced standard definition video with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio tracks in English, French, and Spanish and available subtitles in English SDH, French, and Spanish. When the SD DVD is first played, the viewer is greeted with the following series of skippable promos:

• Winter The Dolphin That Can Home Video Trailer
• Hillsong: Let Hope Rise Theatrical Trailer
• The Good Lie Home Video Trailer
• IMAX Island of Lemurs: Madagascar Home Video Trailer
• Florida Tourism Promo

The only special feature on the DVD is the "Dolphin Tale 2": True Story featurette also appearing on the Blu-ray.

Overall Rating: 3/5

A Dolphin Tale 2 avoids the pitfalls of sequels that merely rehash the events of their predecessors by once again looking to true life events as an inspiration from which to spin-off its plot. Many viewers will find the film's over simplistic plotting, reliance on redundant exposition, and longish running time a bit tedious to sit through, but young kids, marine animal lovers, and fans of guileless inspirational cinema can add a full point to my rating above. This Blu-ray disc presents the outstanding digital cinematography rendered to perfection and the conservatively mixed soundtrack with very good fidelity. Extras are large in number, but modest in depth.

Reviewed By: Ken_McAlinden

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