**Thumbs Up:**

Engelbert the penguin keeps viewers somewhat sane in the midst of all the other crap this movie is made of.
:thumbsup_tone2:

**Thumbs Down:**

The B-film budget this straight-to-video reboot of the _Free Willy_ franchise is made with is blatantly obvious - everything looks and feels cheap. The only saving grace is the beautiful South African setting.
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The orcas have hit a new low; fake CGI whales and even more fake robotic ones.
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**Bindi Irwin** is a terribly annoying actress, most of the time overperforming everything she does. The rest of the time she's just bland.
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**Beau Bridges** is clearly trying to have a good tile, but never feels like the responsible and serious adult he is supposed to be. His silliness only works on the younger viewers, for others, it is just too much.
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Endless pointless montages and unnecessarily detailed science talk.
:thumbsdown_tone2::thumbsdown_tone2::thumbsdown_tone2::thumbsdown_tone2:

The filmmakers are trying to copy the plot for the original _Free Willy_ film for the sake of nostalgia, only changing the setting and the protagonist. They end up butchering the plot with the nonsensical dialogue and laughably bad story.
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The jokes aren't funny at all.
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The villains are clichéd, stupid and nowhere near as threatening as in the earlier films.
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The fake whales make it imbossible for Willy and Kirra to form a bond - a pivotal element of any Willy movie.
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After a pointless and predictable build-up, the film moves onto a hugely dissatisfying finale.
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I can't believe they substituted the iconic harmonica with that abominable horn thingy.
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For the sake of everyone's sanity and Willy's soul, let's just pretend that this embarrassment doesn't exist.
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**Final rating: :thumbsdown_tone2::thumbsdown_tone2::thumbsdown_tone2::thumbsdown_tone2: = 2/10**