I didn't loved FREE WILLY but still like it very much and consider it a childhood classic thanks to the many times it was overplayed on channel 6 during my childhood. The sequels were aired often during my childhood but strictly in that period because in fact I didn't remembered them that much and last March I finally re-watched the first of these sequels. After 15 years (saw it the first time in 2009) I found it slightly inferior to the original but still not that bad as some of the reviewers say.
After Willy jumped for freedom at the end of the first one the Greenwoods (Michael Madsen and Jayne Atkinson) are planning a vacation in San Juan for camping and visiting Randolph (August Schellenberg) but before that Dwight Mercer (Mykelti Williamson) arrives with the news that Jesse's mom was found dead in New York and left another son. Jesse's step-brother Elvis (Francis Capra) is very loquacios and troublesome and grates on Jesse's nerves. Once in San Juan, Jesse reunites with Randolph and go to see Willy and his orca family.
Soon after oil tanker Dakar has an accident and loses oil thanks to a malfunction in the engine trapping Willy and his family in the process. Luna ends on the beach and the Greenwoods manage to return her to water and the Benbrook Oil CEO John Milner (Jon Tenney) promise to help the whales go in another zone. Elvis, that escaped because Annie didn't respected her promise, in a bar hears from afar a conversation between Milner and Bill Wilcox (M. Emmet Walsh) that their real plan is to sell the whales to zoos and so he rushes to the camp for warning Jesse and Glen. After throwing Milner and Wilcox in the water they manage to save the whales after also surviving a fire caused by the oil, and in this occasion Willy will take Jesse on the ground so that the parents can retrieve him. Some time later, Elvis makes amends to Jesse saying that his mum talked well about him and she was sorry for everything, and this convinces Jesse to have Elvis as his step-brother. Soon before the end credits, we see the orca family of Willy, Luna and Catspaw swimming together.
The plot doesn't look bad and I loved the settings. But what prevented me to give a higher score was the major annoyance of Elvis. He was so loquacious, so annoying and so whiny that I really couldn't stand him and if it wasn't for the other actors' performances and the happy ending I would have given this a 3 because of him. I would have preferred that when Elvis accidentally fell in the water Willy should have left him there, he was THAT annoying! I would say more but IMDB won't allow it.
As for the rest of the cast, they were all good (Madsen, Williamson, Schellenberg, Tenney, Al Sapienza, John Considine and the late Walsh) with the material given. And the moments before the end with the helicopter trying to rescue the kids looked like something picked straight from the DIE-HARDs and considering that this is a family movie, it's fitting since the first DIE-HARD is considered an unintentional Christmas movie.
Overall, not a terrible sequel nor family movie (and trust me, I have seen much MUCH worse) but one that could have been much better if it wasn't for the major annoyance of the step-brother. But if you like or love the first one, this would please you in a similar manner.
