Before I conclude “Free Willy month,” I want to apologize for not posting my review yesterday for I was out the entire day and came back really late. As to make up for it, I will post the review today.
After how bad the third movie in the Free Willy series was, filmmakers decided to give Willy one more chance in the final installment, which was a direct-to-video remake in 2010, “Free Willy: Escape from Pirate’s Cove.”
When her father (Kevin Otto) gets into a serious farming accident, Kira (Bindi Irwin) is sent from Australia to South Africa, to be taken care of by her grandfather who has a serious gambling addiction, Gus (Beau Bridges, the older brother of Jeff Bridges). Making a living inside a rundown amusement park “The Pirate’s Lair,” Kira finds it difficult to socialize, watching as Gus cons guests out of all their money. Then everything changes when an orca named Willy arrives in the nearby lagoon, instantly becoming Kira’s friend and finding a way for Gus to gamble for money more. Willy becomes the new attraction at the amusement park, and Kira helps Willy return to his pod by helping Willy sharpen his echolocation skills. Even though Gus likes the money he makes from people coming in to see Willy perform his new tricks, he’s hesitant to see Willy return to his pod. What Kira doesn’t know is that Gus is working with the owner of a competing theme park, played by Stephen Jennings, to sell Willy to his park for a huge payday.
“Free Willy” was a great family movie hit when it was released in 1993, giving the family to fall in love with and feel sympathetic for the film’s main star, Keiko. With the two sequels that came out that was only insignificantly successful and after Keiko passed away in 2003, it looked as though the series would never have another sequel since it went with Keiko.
“Escape from Pirate’s Cove” can be called a reboot, since it puts together a similar tale of captivity for the main orca, only here the story is taken away from the main place of the Pacific Northwest to South Africa, exchanging spectacular oceans for sun-kissed beaches. The new star, Bindi Irwin, is making her feature film debut in here (also strapping out a tune for the end credits) after a few years of conveying the same message that her father, the late Steve Irwin’s message of animal appreciation on the famous television show, “Bindi, the Jungle Girl.” Irwin is a beginner, but she does a very pleasing innocent impression in this film, positioning her natural cheerful personality to best match her huge co-star. Nothing too tiring in the acting department is asked of Irwin, making her performance thankfully free of very small seriousness.
Brian Orndorf said in his review of the film, “Irwin's a polite presence in a film that could use more of her, with director Will Geiger often turning on the cartoon afterburners to make a quick impression on younger viewers.” “Escape from Pirate’s Cove” is a friendly family movie, but it doesn’t have the same naturalistic weight the original film delighted itself on. Even though the messages on animal captivity is completely clear as day, Orndorf says, “this "Free Willy" adventure retains a plastic quality, a fact emphasized in Willy himself, who's either a semi-paralyzed animatronic figure to best interact with the performers or he's a slick CGI creation for underwater shots.” Any hope to see an orca in a natural shot is lost when the film goes into animated mode.
When Willy is reduced to a bad effect, the South African shots are beautiful, offering Irwin plenty of opportunities to interact with a vast amount of animals and connect in coastal monkey business. Orndorf even admitted, “I also enjoyed the film's insistence on education, as Kira devours all the information she can find to best decode Willy's predicament.” Maybe this film isn’t an overwhelming display of educational truth, but the little ideas add up here and there, hopefully inspiring younger audiences with an appreciation for animal life.
In the end, go see this remake; it’s definitely worth the watch, especially if you didn’t like either two or three or both. I personally think the first two are better, but I think this is a good movie for the entire family to sit down and watch.
Thank you for joining in with me on “Free Willy month.” I hope that I have given everyone an insight on sea life and you will now save the whales. Stay tuned for more of my reviews coming very soon. Take care.
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