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Review:  Dull sequel ‘Dolphin Tale 2’ needs a rescue of its own

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The main cast as well as the mammalian star of the 2011 hit family film “Dolphin Tale” return in “Dolphin Tale 2,” a pleasant if bland and nonessential sequel.

Like the original movie, the follow-up is based on true events that occurred at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Florida, where both pictures were shot. Unfortunately, writer-director Charles Martin Smith (he also helmed the first film) never finds a gripping or dimensional enough story in the continuing account of Winter, the Atlantic bottlenose dolphin with the prosthetic tail.

The most potentially dramatic element — Winter will be relocated by the Department of Agriculture if the team at Clearwater can’t find her an acceptable companion dolphin — takes too long to build and play out, resulting in a lack of focus and momentum.

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Incidents involving an elderly dolphin, Panama, and a rescued dolphin named Mandy may factor into Winter’s situation but tend to feel like separate stories. Only much later, when hope arrives in the form of a baby dolphin christened — you guessed it, Hope — does the narrative begin to feel organic.

The actors too often feel secondary to the stirringly shot dolphins and aquatic setting. Perhaps that’s because their characters barely exist beyond their connection to the dolphins; they’re otherwise lifeless.

Teen leads Nathan Gamble and Cozi Zuehlsdorff, who play sensitive, impressively skilled CMA staffers, are given the most to do here. But they, like the rest of the performers, including Harry Connick Jr., Ashley Judd, Morgan Freeman, Kris Kristofferson, Austin Stowell and Smith, are hamstrung by uninspired dialogue and too many perfunctory emotional beats.

Although children may enjoy the animal action (there’s also a fun pelican and a yellow sea turtle) and parents might appreciate the movie’s genuinely sweet moments, this is exceedingly mild entertainment.

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“Dolphin Tale 2.”

MPAA rating: PG for mild thematic elements.

Running time: 1 hour, 47 minutes.

Playing: In general release.

calendar@latimes.com

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