When certain films are released, mostly those of kid-centric variety, critics tend to forget that they’re not necessarily the film’s target audience. So, we here at CinemaNerdz decided we needed the critical viewpoint of a true member of the movie’s intended demographic. Thus, we turn the reins over to Miranda Clarke, age 9, as she shares with us her views on the new film “Dolphin Tale.”
The movie is about a dolphin named Winter that has lost its tail due to an infection from being hurt in a fishing trap. She meets a sad and upset boy named Sawyer (Nathan Gamble) who doesn’t have any friends and has to go to summer school. Sawyer has a weird connection with Winter. Whenever Sawyer is around, Winter makes sounds for him and lets him help her. But, Winter can’t swim without her tail since dolphins need their tails to swim to the top of the water so they can breathe air. Sawyer takes care of Winter and tries to be a good friend to her because she is having a hard time. Winter survives because Sawyer is caring, a risk taker, and a thinker.
The 3D effects at the start of the movie made the dolphins swimming around seem to swim right next to me. It was cool and I really liked it. Then the 3D got bad because most things weren’t popping out at you. The 3D effects didn’t make the movie any better and the movie didn’t really need to be in 3D.
One of my favorite characters in the movie is Hazel (Cozi Zuehlsdorff). She is the daughter of the doctor at the marine hospital taking care of Winter. Hazel is cool and lives by the water. She helps her dad a lot by taking care of the dolphins and the other animals. Sawyer and Hazel become good friends. She cares about Winter and Sawyer too.
Winter as herself in Dolphin Tale. Photo by Jon Farmer.
© 2011 Alcon Film Fund LLC.
I liked the message of Dolphin Tale, which is if you do your best you can do anything you want and you do not have to do just one thing. Sawyer tries to help Winter feel better and he succeeds! Sawyer is only 11 years old and has all these ideas. It was really cool that he was thinking of all these problems and how to solve them. The story was also pretty good. I like true stories and this one was better than most. I also liked how they showed video of the real people in the movie at the end. The movie almost made me cry but the ending fixes everything. You should go see this movie.
Miranda Clarke
Latest posts by Miranda Clarke (see all)
- Interview with Selena Gomez, star of Monte Carlo - July 4, 2011