Dolphin Tale 2

It’s been three years since Dolphin Tale introduced young animal lovers and aspiring marine biologists to Winter, the dolphin was rescued and rehabilitated using a prosthetic tail at a Florida aquarium.

Since the financial success of that film made a sequel inevitable, along comes Dolphin Tale 2, which takes the same approach toward embellishments and sentimentality to maximize the crowd-pleasing effect.

The result is wholesome and occasionally moving but hardly memorable as it dramatizes the continuing true-life adventures of Winter and her friends from both land and sea.

Under the water, there’s the story of Winter’s lethargic demeanor that results from the death of her aging companion and surrogate mother, Panama. As it turns out, there’s a requirement for all dolphins in captivity to be paired with another of the same species and gender, or else risk transfer to a different facility. So it’s up to aquarium director Clay (Harry Connick Jr.) to find a suitable replacement in order to keep Winter.

Outside the pool we revisit Sawyer (Nathan Gamble), a teenager who has been presented with a terrific opportunity to study at sea for a semester, except that it would require temporarily leaving a job that he loves, not being there to attend to Winter, and jeopardizing his friendships with Clay’s daughter, Hazel (Cozi Zuehlsdorff).

Like its predecessor, Dolphin Tale 2 emphasizes its real-life source material (with Winter again playing herself in several scenes) and serves as worthwhile promotional material for the actual aquarium. It’s a heartwarming and inspirational story for which a documentary approach might have been sufficient.

Returning director Charles Martin Smith, who also wrote the screenplay and plays a supporting role, makes it clear that kids are the target audience by keeping both the story and dialogue simple. Youngsters might get the biggest kick out of the slapstick animal antics — especially those involving a feisty pelican and his sea-turtle companion — and the easygoing ecological lessons.

That demographic will no doubt relate best to the two teenage protagonists whose stories intertwine with those of the dolphins. Meanwhile, screen veterans Morgan Freeman and Kris Kristofferson both return in smaller roles to dispense pearls of wisdom.

However, while Winter’s fans might be curious about her continuing health, none of these newcomers can steal the show from the tale of her tail.

Rated PG, 107 minutes.