"Free Willy 3: The Rescue," is a pointless sequel that retreads the original with Willy being in danger. "The Rescue" in the title is exactly what it is, with Willy needing Jessie to save him, and It feels underwhelming. At the heart of the movie is Max (Vincent Berry,) a grade school kid who, feels like Jesse from the original film; a lonely and lost kid, but it's not taken very far. His father, John (Patrick Kilpatrick,) is a whaler, and when Max gets to go out on his father's boat, he becomes sad when he discovers his father illegally hunts whales.
Jessie (James James Rictor) is sixteen, now and works as a researcher on Noah, a research boat, with Randolph (August Schellenberg. Oceanographer Drew (Annie Corley) takes a liking to Jessie. He signs on for a summer internship where he plays harmonic whale noises to bring Willy to him. It brings the whalers, who do a good job of hiding what they are doing, and Jesse in the usual scenario where he needs to find evidence, and he'll get himself into preposterous trouble trying to bring them in.
John doesn't have any chemistry with Max, and he says "I'll teach you everything I know." He explains to Max that he misses the days when hunting whales meant bringing light to the world." with oil lamps. He gets $200 a pound, for whale meat. He explains that he comes from a long line of whalers, and he, wants Max to follow him but doesn't seem to see that Max is distraught throughout the movie. There is no meaning between any of them. John is focused on one thing, and Max is an afterthought until the screenplay says, "Put them together in this scene."
Meanwhile, Jessie tags Orcas, while whalers lock on to the signal and use it to bring the whales to them. Max falls overboard and has a magical moment with Willy underwater where he decides what his dad is doing is wrong, and John refuses to listen. None of it feels cohesive, and feels like it's thrown together, with bland and garbage photography, because the producers had to release another movie.
When the whalers attack, we are supposed to feel the tension, but it's garbage because this is a family-friendly movie, and John misses it every time. Of course, he does! There is no sense of danger throughout the movie if there is supposed to be. We don't see much from Jesse or Max, but neither character feels like they are here for a purpose other than to tell another story nobody asked for.
Jesse tries to convince Max that what his dad is doing is wrong, and Max knows this but won't say anything until Jesse takes him out to meet Willy. He never even mentions that he fell in the water and saw him. Of course, when John finds out his son doesn't want to follow in his footsteps, he becomes hard-pressed to defend what he does, telling him it's put a roof over his head. Of course, there is going to be a resolve, and it's a bland conversation about mortality that Max doesn't seem to understand because he is a kid.
Jesse sneaks aboard John's boat, in an attempt, to find evidence, while Randolph tries to get funny in a bar. I thought Jesse was, going to get caught, but no, he doesn't. Instead, Max finds him and decides it's time to stop his dad after being quiet for most of the movie before Willy magically appears to get shot at for the final scenes of the movie.
There is no doubt kids will like "Free Willy 3: The Rescue," the squeak of Willy is enough to make them smile, but the movie, itself, doesn't tell a strong enough story and falls apart when the characters do nothing, and everything feels like an afterthought when the story is a campaign ad for "Save the Whales," instead, of putting heart behind It. There is nothing smart because screenwriter, John Mattson didn't care. Yet, he wrote the last movie so I'm confused! The oil spill in "Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home," was much smarter and gave the movie a sense of danger, not this time around, and it's a disappointing conclusion to the trilogy.
4/10.
Jessie (James James Rictor) is sixteen, now and works as a researcher on Noah, a research boat, with Randolph (August Schellenberg. Oceanographer Drew (Annie Corley) takes a liking to Jessie. He signs on for a summer internship where he plays harmonic whale noises to bring Willy to him. It brings the whalers, who do a good job of hiding what they are doing, and Jesse in the usual scenario where he needs to find evidence, and he'll get himself into preposterous trouble trying to bring them in.
John doesn't have any chemistry with Max, and he says "I'll teach you everything I know." He explains to Max that he misses the days when hunting whales meant bringing light to the world." with oil lamps. He gets $200 a pound, for whale meat. He explains that he comes from a long line of whalers, and he, wants Max to follow him but doesn't seem to see that Max is distraught throughout the movie. There is no meaning between any of them. John is focused on one thing, and Max is an afterthought until the screenplay says, "Put them together in this scene."
Meanwhile, Jessie tags Orcas, while whalers lock on to the signal and use it to bring the whales to them. Max falls overboard and has a magical moment with Willy underwater where he decides what his dad is doing is wrong, and John refuses to listen. None of it feels cohesive, and feels like it's thrown together, with bland and garbage photography, because the producers had to release another movie.
When the whalers attack, we are supposed to feel the tension, but it's garbage because this is a family-friendly movie, and John misses it every time. Of course, he does! There is no sense of danger throughout the movie if there is supposed to be. We don't see much from Jesse or Max, but neither character feels like they are here for a purpose other than to tell another story nobody asked for.
Jesse tries to convince Max that what his dad is doing is wrong, and Max knows this but won't say anything until Jesse takes him out to meet Willy. He never even mentions that he fell in the water and saw him. Of course, when John finds out his son doesn't want to follow in his footsteps, he becomes hard-pressed to defend what he does, telling him it's put a roof over his head. Of course, there is going to be a resolve, and it's a bland conversation about mortality that Max doesn't seem to understand because he is a kid.
Jesse sneaks aboard John's boat, in an attempt, to find evidence, while Randolph tries to get funny in a bar. I thought Jesse was, going to get caught, but no, he doesn't. Instead, Max finds him and decides it's time to stop his dad after being quiet for most of the movie before Willy magically appears to get shot at for the final scenes of the movie.
There is no doubt kids will like "Free Willy 3: The Rescue," the squeak of Willy is enough to make them smile, but the movie, itself, doesn't tell a strong enough story and falls apart when the characters do nothing, and everything feels like an afterthought when the story is a campaign ad for "Save the Whales," instead, of putting heart behind It. There is nothing smart because screenwriter, John Mattson didn't care. Yet, he wrote the last movie so I'm confused! The oil spill in "Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home," was much smarter and gave the movie a sense of danger, not this time around, and it's a disappointing conclusion to the trilogy.
4/10.