First, I have NOT seen any one of the three previous Orca interacting-with-kid-concept films nor, did I expect to see this one. My Granddaughter had other ideas. It's a very good film. my Granddaughter and I stayed glued and time seemed to pass quickly as you get wrapped up in the simple but, familiar, yet, very entertaining plot. 11yr-old Bindi Irwin was at the making of this film in 2010, as she is today, adorable and amazing! She is a great draw and her acting seemed to get better as the film clicked along. Beu Bridges portrayed the likable, but unprincipled Grandfather who happens to own a rag-tag carnival that oft times masquerades as a not-so-sea-worthy theme park. Again simple, familiar but, pretty good stuff. And Bridges did very well with the character. Another plus is he beautiful South African countryside. Our two thumbs are up!

Bindi Irwin was really good in this. she wasn't half bad as a actress. she handled a crying scene well, something actors will tell you is often demanding, and i liked her song at the end of the film. i've always liked Bindi Irwin and thought she had a interesting career. her father was a fine man and his death was a real loss. i'm not sure that Bindi will ever be able to fill her father's shoes (he was larger than life), but maybe she will grow up to be a important animal rights activist or something like that.this movie was a lot better than i thought it was going to be. i mostly watched it for a brain dead junk experience, but found i rather liked it. it wasn't as maudlin or as syrupy as my suspicions were for it, and i was really impressed by Bindi Irwin's engaging performance. i also really enjoyed it's message of child empowerment (although a lot of these kind of movies convey that message), and thought it's environmental messages to be just great. i was even amused at the jabs the film took at government officials and authority.the only thing i felt that kept this nice little film back was too much reliance on animatronic animals and CGI FX. when i sit down to watch a film about nature, i wanna see real animals. the only time that fakes ever really worked was in 'Jaws' and 'Greystoke'.all in all this was a great film for kids and will teach them the power of voice. lets just hope the little nippers don't get too mouthy.

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 this DVD for two reasons. First, I'm a long-time fan of the Bridges acting family. Second, I was a huge fan of Steve Irwin and I thought that the combination of Bindi Irwin and Beau Bridges would be marvelous. For me, it was. I have read the negative reviews of this movie here and, while the plot is pretty predictable (what family-oriented film plot isn't?), I thought that the chemistry between the actors was wonderful and I disagree with the cynics, especially about Bindi's performance. I found Bindi Irwin's performance to be charming and Beau Bridges didn't disappoint either. Together, they are irresistible even in an obvious plot like this one, and the music is lovely as well.I have no small children at this time and as yet I have no grandchildren. I bought this DVD for myself, and I would do it again. This film is fun and joyous and brought tears to my eyes at the same time. It is engaging and appealing on its own, even with the reference to the "Free Willy" franchise. This film could stand on its own without that title.Australia should consider Bindi Irwin to be a national treasure, and I found this movie to be absolutely charming.