Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove Blu-ray offers decent video and audio in this enjoyable Blu-ray release
Fans of the Free Willy series will cheer this exciting family film about a baby orca who needs a friend and a girl
who finds the courage to help him. After young Kirra (Bindi Irwin) leaves her Australian home to summer with
her grandfather (Beau Bridges) in South Africa, she soon discovers a baby orca stranded in the lagoon near her
grandfather’s rundown seaside amusement park. She names the lonely whale Willy – and embarks on a quest to
lead the little guy back to his anxious pod before her grandfather’s greedy rival turns Willy into a captive,
moneymaking attraction at his slick theme park. A little girl, a little orca and big, big fun and adventure!
Every now and then the timing of a release makes me wince. Just four weeks after a SeaWorld killer whale suddenly drowned one of its trainers comes the fourth film in the Free Willy franchise. Ahem... starring Bindi, daughter of Steve Irwin, the beloved conversationalist and wildlife expert who died after a tragic encounter with a stingray. The coverart alone made me flinch. Thankfully, such macabre trivialities will escape the direct-to-video film's target audience: the ever-eager eight to twelve-year old fact-finders and nature enthusiasts who are a bit more familiar with Bindi than her dearly departed dad. I have to admit I was clueless. I had no idea the talented young girl had spent the last three years of her life bravely following in her father's footsteps, much less becoming the youngest Daytime Emmy winner in history, the recipient of numerous other awards, and the energetic host of her own documentary series and television specials. Unfortunately, Escape from Pirate's Cove writer/director Will Geiger spends so much time dampening and muffling Bindi's natural enthusiasm that he robs her of the very thing that's made her such a spirited star.
Here kitty, kitty, kitty...
Bindi steps into the sullen shoes of Kirra Cooper, a well-adjusted young girl who's forced to spend a sun-baked summer in South Africa with her irresponsible grandfather, amusement park owner Gus Grisby (Beau Bridges), after a barnyard injury leaves her father (Kevin Otto) cooped up in the hospital. But as luck would have it, Gus has a gambling problem and a number of outstanding debts, giving Kirra more than enough reason to question his every word and despise her decidedly uneventful vacation. That all changes though when a violent storm strands a killer whale in the shore-side water pen at her grandfather's park and gives Kirra a renewed sense of purpose. Diligently working with the whale -- dubbed Willy after Gus realizes he needs to name the animal to sell more tickets for his latest attraction -- the devoted trainer-in-training tries to get Willy to eat before tackling the near-impossible task of tracking down his pod (that's a whale's family to you and me). However, just as Kirra begins to make headway, her greedy grandfather breaks a promise and agrees to sell the whale to a rival amusement park owner, a smarmy entrepreneur named Rolf Woods (Stephen Jennings), for cold, hard cash ($500,000 to be exact). Now, with little time to spare, Kirra has to think fast, convince Gus and her friends to help her, and race to reunite Willy with his pod.
Escape from Pirate's Cove fails on all the usual direct-to-video fronts -- the performances are either stilted or embellished, Willy and his brood sometimes sport a coat of second-generation CG paint, Geiger's screenplay is plodding and predictable, and his dialogue reeks of trite, by-the-numbers chum -- but Bindi and Bridges hit a decent stride after thirty or forty minutes that keeps the ship from sinking. When sharing the screen with her human co-stars, Bindi merely runs through the motions, relying on Bridges to rant and emote for the both of them. However, when Geiger finds a way to squeeze an animal into the mix, even during something as contrived as a visit to a wildlife preserve, Bindi lights up and becomes three times the young actress she first appears to be. Why Geiger didn't find more ways to team Irwin with whales and other African animals is a mystery to me. Even a simple change to his screenplay -- making Grisby's amusement park a zoo -- would have allowed the director to make a more entertaining, possibly more endearing family film. Instead, he aims for weighty and dramatic (neither of which, by the way, his flimsy story is built to support), and rarely capitalizes on anything resembling legitimate drama. His conflicts are paper-thin, his intensity is manufactured, and his endgame lacks palpable urgency.
Is all lost? Not really. Although younger kids will wander off to play with Toy Story action figures and adults will be left to wage a battle with their eyelids, budding conversationalists and aspiring Discovery Channel hosts will probably enjoy their time with Willy and Bindi. The film's themes may be overly simplistic, but third through fifth graders will relate. Its well-intentioned characters may be two-dimensional, but an eight-year old will be able to understand everything that makes each one tick. Its various animals may be underused, but there's plenty of facts and tidbits available for fledgling wildlife experts to take in. Suffice to say, it will be the talk of the elementary school water cooler... at least for a few weeks. Had Geiger found ways to dive into his story more quickly, or found ways to heighten the adventure therein, the fourth film in the Willy franchise might have lived up to a family-favorite like the original (flawed as it too may be). Sadly, with so many missed opportunities and squandered subplots, Escape from Pirate's Cove will inevitably settle near the bottom of Blu-ray's mounting bargain bin.
Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove washes up on Blu-ray with a meek and meager 1080p/VC-1 transfer; one that rarely surpasses its humble direct-to-video roots or the limitations of a low-budget production. Director of photography Robert Malpage's sun-bleached palette simply looks off -- while it offers up strong colors and natural skintones at times, more often than not, it wallows in muddy hues, diluted primaries, bronzed faces, and dull blacks -- and contrast is unreliable and inconsistent. Detail is quite good, despite several notable dips in clarity, but it's also hindered by persistent noise. Harsh, rough-hewn grain tends to suddenly spike in the bright skies, compression artifacts attack several scenes, underwater banding is a faint but frequent offender, and ringing affects a handful of shots. Even so, fine textures are decent, especially during carefully lit closeups, and the scraggly gray hairs on Bridges' chest manage to carve out a nook for themselves on screen. Likewise, object edges are generally sharp, if not a tad serrated on occasion, and every instance of softness seems to trace back to the original source, not Warner's technical encode. Impressionable, wide-eyed Willy fans may not notice, but any wizened parent will spot this average shoulder-shrugger a mile out.
Willy's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track may lend a bit of lossless rage to the savage seas, but it also delivers a fairly flat sonic experience that disappoints more often than it satisfies. While dialogue is intelligible and well-prioritized throughout, rushing winds and lapping waves occasionally assault Bindi's soft Aussie drawl. LFE output favors quaint pitter-pats over hearty thooms and booms, dynamics prove to be less than inspiring, and directionality, thanks in large part to some rather weak-willed rear speaker support, fails to invite listeners to tour Escape's exotic locales. Enis Rotthoff's music is given its run of the soundfield, but even its playful notes tend to get buried whenever Geiger isn't mounting a research-gathering or animal-feeding montage. And what of Willy and his undersea brethren? I'll admit the slick-skinned charmer and his clan earn a few healthy snorts, blowhole breaths, and whale calls. That being said, they aren't blessed with the graceful weight and confident presence their kind deserves. Ultimately, I suspect Warner's lossless efforts are sound, but Geiger's pedestrian direct-to-video sound design comes up short.
Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove continues its feeble assault on Blu-ray with twenty painful minutes of expendable special features. An exclusive "Fun Track" attempts to spice up the proceedings, but there's only so much a text-based trivia track can do in this age of BD-Java wonders and Picture-in-Picture marvels. Ah well, at least all of the video content is presented in high definition.
On the Set: Greetings from South Africa (HD, 8 minutes): Go behind-the-scenes of Escape from Pirate's Cove, learn why Bindi was drawn to the film, and listen as key members of the cast and crew discuss the story, the actors' "amaaaazing" performances, and the importance of protecting wildlife around the world.
Bindi's First Movie Video Diary (HD, 4 minutes): A self-explanatory video diary aimed at Bindi's young fans. Sadly, even the most devoted tykes will be surprised at how quickly it's all over.
Meet My Wild Co-Stars (HD, 3 minutes): Bindi introduces her wild and hairy co-stars. And no, one of them isn't Beau Bridges.
Deleted Scenes (HD, 2 minutes): Two cuts are included, both of which could have easily been retained in the final film.
Outtakes (HD, 2 minutes): A single outtake actually, one that finds Bindi cracking up while delivering a line.
Fun Track: A text-based, pop-up trivia track rounds out the package.
Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove is too slow to entertain younger children and too shallow and predictable to keep adults awake, but it should appeal to the budding nature enthusiasts in your household; the same eager eight to twelve-year olds who could easily pick Bindi out of a crowd. Unfortunately, the Blu-ray edition doesn't pack much value. With a problematic video transfer, an underwhelming DTS-HD Master Audio track, and a small smattering of special features, there isn't a lot here to justify the disc's lofty pricepoint. Unless you're confident your kids will adore everything Escape from Pirate's Cove has on tap, stick with a rental.
Warner Home Video has announced Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove for release on a Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy combo pack on March 23. In a departure from Warner's modus operandi with direct-to-video content, this movie –starring Bindi Irwin, daughter of the late ...
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