I wasn't too sure about whether or not I'd like this movie, but since I've been a Free Willy/Steve Irwin fan my entire life, I gave it a shot. Overall, it was decent. The acting, in my opinion, was good. I felt that Bindi did a fantastic job. The storyline, though very similar to the first and second Free Willy movies, was decent, though more effort could have been made to make the storyline a little more original. However, its still a heartwarming story. If this movie had come out when I was a little kid, I would have watched it often. I did have some problems with this movie, though. For one, they named the whale Willy, even though it had nothing to do with the original whale. That bothered me simply because this whale wasn't the Willy I grew up loving in the other movies. I think they should have at least made this whale be Willy's son Max, who was born in the end of the third movie. It would have at least given this whale a connection to the real Willy. For two, the robot-whale didn't look very realistic at all. It seemed as though it was unable to close its mouth completely and in the scenes leading up to "Willy"'s release, its mouth was hanging open slightly, which...erm, made the whale look kinda...deceased. Three, I didn't feel the connection between Kirra and "Willy" like I did between Jesse and Willy. Kirra obviously cared about "Willy" and the whale seemed to like her, but I didn't personally feel like the connection was very strong. I'm a very emotional person, and I didn't even tear up when "Willy" was released and Kirra had to say goodbye (I cry at the end of Free Willy every time, though). Four, a minor complaint, but I wasn't completely satisfied with the lack of footage of real orcas used in this film. This film relied heavily on computer generated images and the robot, even though the back of the case shows Kirra riding a clearly real orca. I had hoped and expected to see at least -some- footage of "Willy" using a real whale, judging from the pictures on the back of the case. In conclusion, it could have used some improvements, but it isn't a terrible movie. Younger kids would probably enjoy it more than teenagers and adults. My personal recommendation is to watch the first Free Willy film if you're going to choose between the four. I enjoy kids movies, but I usually shut this movie off about halfway through.

I bought the movie in a set of pack of 4 with the first 3 intending to relive a peace of the 90's. Now certain aspects of the movie are right, and the idea is sort of there. the plot could have been developed a bit more. But I have a feeling this movie was intended to drag in the interest of a new generation of kids to get there interest going. Today, the kids are all watching computerized cartoons, and the idea, I think is to drum up the sales and to teach kids a interest of it, so they wont mind watching the older movies from the 90's which are much better. Oh yes, the actors and actresses did a good job for what they had to work with. A whale that washes into a cove is a whale that's stuck. Can't go nowhere and a man wants it. Family movies to obvious? Depends on which ones you watch. Are the 90's in this movie? Nope. The 90's are done. If you wanna go back to the 90's where you grew up, my advice is to get movies you might have watched growing up: Home Alone & H.A. 2, Free Willy 1; 2; 3. LOL. Kids today are NOT 90's kids and wont be. Or even those darn kid movies u watched as a kid. LOL, even if they were kids. As for the above movie, use it to get your kids interested in the originals. :)