If you've seen "Free Willy," you've seen "Free Willy 2." With a few adjustments here and there, this sequel is essentially a remake.
Kids - the primarily audience for this picture - probably won't mind, however. Familiarity doesn't breed contempt for children the way it does for movie critics.
Our human hero, Jesse (again played by Jason James Richter), is no longer as lonely and angry as he was in the first film, having been taken in by the Greenwoods (Michael Madsen and Jayne Atkinson reprising their roles). And, as a 14-year-old entering adolescence, he's settling into suburbia and beginning to notice girls.
But he gets a stability check when word arrives that his estranged mother has died. If that's not enough, he also meets his young half-brother for the first time - a tough-talking, embittered kid who is prone to exaggeration, and whose name is Elvis (Francis Capra).
The Greenwoods decide to bring Elvis along on a camping vacation on the shores of the Pacific Northwest, where they link up with their old friend Randolph (August Schel-lenberg, also reprising his role). Randolph patrols the waters and monitors whale activity, and with him is his young niece Nadine (Mary Kate Schellhardt). Naturally, Jesse and Nadine are attracted to each other.
Once all the characters are established, our friendly neighborhood killer whale Willy is back on the scene, swimming in the local waters with his family. After a joyful reunion with Jesse, however, tragedy strikes as Willy and family are trapped in a cove by a huge oil spill, and Willy's sister falls ill.
Eventually, in the big climax, Willy and Jesse must save each other as the oil slick catches fire and Jesse, Nadine and Elvis are trapped in a boat.
It's all pretty incredible, of course, from Jesse joyriding on Willy's back in the ocean to the heroic rescues at the end of the film, but kids will enjoy seeing Jesse and friends get the best of the bad guys (who plan a whalenapping) as they manage to free Willy again.
Parents may wonder if romance blossoming between 14-year-olds is a wise plot choice (Jesse gets his first kiss here). And the film is certainly sentimental and preachy (the ecological message is rather heavy-handed). And, of course, Michael Jackson's song becomes an excuse for a music video.
But in general this is innocent, sentimental fun.
Even Elvis, whose storytelling leads to a boy-who-cried-wolf subplot, is a very sanitized young New York hood.
"Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home" is rated PG for some violence and vulgar remarks.